PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency illegally gained access to license plate reader cameras within Illinois, the state’s top prosecutor alleged Monday.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said that a recent audit, done in June, indicated Flock Safety, which operates the nation’s largest automated license plate reader system, allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to access Illinois license plate cameras on Illinois roads and surveil drivers.
That’s a violation of state law, his office alleges and as such, Giannoulias has ordered Flock Security to stop sharing information with the federal agency.
“This law, passed two years ago, aimed to strengthen how data is shared and prevent this exact thing from happening,” he said. “I take my responsibility as Secretary of State seriously. It’s why we spearheaded this legislation, which now gives us the tools needed to hold Flock accountable for its actions.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if any agencies within Central Illinois were found to be sharing such information. Hannah Blatt, an office spokeswoman, said “this is an ongoing investigation, and we can’t comment further on the 12 local law enforcement agencies who participated in the sample audit.”
Departments such as Peoria, Bloomington, Normal, East Peoria and others all use the Flock cameras.
The audit in June showed a dozen or so agencies didn’t have “proper safeguards in place for data sharing, which was compounded by the fact that the company was running a pilot program with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. . . “
That pilot program, Giannoulias claims, was something “Flock leadership was unaware of.” Since being uncovered by the audit, Giannoulias said, the pilot program has been paused.
The Secretary of State also called upon local police to look into their agreements with Flock and make sure they don’t violate the state’s Trust Act, which restricts local law enforcement in Illinois with collaborating with federal authorities
In addition, Giannoulias called on local police departments to re-examine their agreements with Flock and what access they grant law enforcement to their license plate cameras to ensure they do not violate the state’s Trust Act, which restricts local law enforcement in Illinois from collaborating with federal authorities on immigration enforcement without a court warrant.
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