How Police–ICE Data Sharing Turns Public Safety Into Mass Surveillance

The heated December 16 Oakland City Council debate revealed why police collaboration with ICE-backed surveillance systems is deeply harmful to communities. Residents packed the chamber for hours, warning that these partnerships blur public safety with immigration targeting and place vulnerable people at risk. One speaker accused the council directly: “You are doing more to advance Trump’s agenda in Oakland than anyone.” Another, whose parents survived the Holocaust, said, “They were hunted like animals by an authoritarian, white supremacist regime… a yes vote on the Flock contract will make you complicit.”

At the center of the controversy is Flock Safety, a private tech company that provides AI-powered license plate recognition cameras now operating in thousands of cities nationwide. While marketed as a crime-solving tool, the technology has increasingly been used to assist ICE as it pursues mass deportations. That concern has only grown after the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by ICE agents, reinforcing fears about how data-sharing can escalate into violence.

Flock’s system logs where people drive, when, and how often, creating a sweeping record of daily movement for both suspected criminals and ordinary residents. Although Flock claims local agencies control the data, its CEO has openly promoted broad sharing between agencies. The company told Congress that 75 percent of its customers participate in a national lookup network, allowing widespread access across jurisdictions. An investigation found police departments used this system for thousands of immigration-related searches, often justified with vague labels like “ICE” or “immigration,” even in sanctuary cities.

City officials across the country now say they were misled. “They didn’t just mislead us; it’s coming out that they’ve misled a lot of people,” said Mountlake Terrace council member William Paige. “I feel like I’ve been played.” As a result, cities including Austin, Cambridge, Santa Cruz, and Eugene have cancelled or paused their contracts.

The dangers extend beyond immigration. Records show Flock data was used in abortion-related investigations and to monitor protest activity. Senator Ron Wyden warned the company “has not taken responsibility for the harms it has enabled” and that abuses are “not only likely but inevitable.”

Link: Independent