EVERETT — The rapid spread of Flock Safety cameras throughout Snohomish County has raised questions about who has access to the license plate data and whether police departments have unknowingly violated state law.

Records reviewed by The Daily Herald found federal agencies — including U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations — gained access to multiple Flock networks across Snohomish County earlier this year.

Further, records show out-of-state law enforcement agencies searched local Flock data for reasons directly related to immigration or seemingly on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Washington state law places strict limits on when local agencies can assist federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement.

The Daily Herald reviewed records from Arlington, Everett, Lake Stevens, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mill Creek and Mukilteo.

Some of these cities were mentioned in an Oct. 21 University of Washington Center for Human Rights report, which revealed federal agencies had access to data from multiple Flock networks across the state, including Arlington and Mukilteo. The report also revealed searches from out-of-state agencies related to immigration enforcement in Mukilteo and Lynnwood.

Over the past few months, some Snohomish County law enforcement agencies have started keeping a closer eye on who has access to their Flock data. State lawmakers and activists are drafting what could be Washington’s first-ever legislation regulating automated license plate reader use.

The findings come as communities across the country are raising concerns about how Flock cameras may contribute to mass surveillance and unlawful immigration enforcement, especially as the Trump administration escalates deportation efforts. A growing number of cities across the U.S. have reconsidered their contracts with Flock Safety after public pushback, some canceling their contracts altogether.

Traffic stop at the intersection of 64th Avenue West and 196th Street Southwest where a Flock Safety camera is installed on Oct. 28, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Purchase Photo

What is Flock Safety?

Atlanta-based Flock Safety began as a startup in 2017 and is now one of the largest vendors of automated license plate readers in the country. By 2022, the company had cameras in more than 1,500 cities. Now, Flock has more than 80,000 solar-powered cameras in more than 6,000 communities throughout the country. In a September interview with Forbes, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said he predicts Flock cameras will eradicate nearly all crime in the U.S. within a decade.

After Flock cameras capture the back of a vehicle, artificial intelligence analyzes the footage and creates terms for police to search. For example, an officer could search for a vehicle’s make, model, color, or even distinct bumper stickers or body damage, even if they don’t have a specific license plate number. Flock says its cameras do not capture drivers’ faces and do not have facial recognition capabilities.

Every time a vehicle passes a camera, the image and associated data are stored in the cloud for a default of 30 days, according to Flock. Any time within those 30 days, an officer can make a search and retrieve the data. Many agencies, sometimes unknowingly, have enabled Flock’s “nationwide lookup” tool, which allows any participating agency in the U.S. to search their network. In return, the feature allows them to search any participating network in the country.

Police departments can also add vehicles to a “hotlist,” which notifies other participating agencies if a vehicle of interest passes by one of their cameras.

More than 80 law enforcement agencies in Washington use Flock as an investigative tool. Agencies across Snohomish County say Flock cameras have led to significant decreases in vehicle theft and have been beneficial in locating suspects in investigations. Most cities in the county that have Flock are engaged in two-year pilot programs. The contracts are largely funded by state grants.

Direct federal access

The Daily Herald reviewed “network audits” — logs of every search made on an agency’s network — from Lake Stevens, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mill Creek and Mukilteo. Arlington denied The Daily Herald’s request for its network audit, saying it does not qualify as public record. The network audit request to Everett was pending as of Friday afternoon.

All of these cities, including Arlington and Everett, provided organization audits — a list of every search police officers in their department had made to any Flock network — and a list of agencies they enabled direct sharing with.

Federal agencies directly accessed networks in Lake Stevens, Marysville, Mill Creek and Mukilteo hundreds of times from January to June, records show.

While Mukilteo made an account with Flock last year, its cameras were not operational until April 30. Federal agencies searching the network before then would not have accessed any data. Mill Creek’s also made an account last year, but its cameras weren’t operational until Sept. 29.

No federal searches appeared in records from Lynnwood’s Flock cameras because they went live June 29.

In July, Arlington was directly sharing its network with the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to Arlington’s direct sharing list, which the University of Washington Center for Human Rights provided to The Daily Herald. An updated list Arlington provided to The Daily Herald in September did not show the department enabling direct sharing with U.S. Border Patrol, but the U.S. Postal Inspection Service still appeared on the list.

In April, The Washington Post reported the Postal Inspection Service joined a Department of Homeland Security task force, which reportedly focused on locating and deporting undocumented immigrants. The Postal Inspection Service also investigates crimes such as mail theft and illegal narcotics.

“We are currently reviewing the report from the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights and remain committed to full compliance with the Washington State Workers Act,” Arlington City Administrator Paul Ellis said in a statement to The Daily Herald. “The City is working with Flock and on our own internal controls to ensure transparency and adherence to all applicable state regulations.”

In 2019, the state Legislature passed the Keep Washington Working Act, which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from providing “nonpublicly available information” to federal immigration authorities for civil immigration purposes.

U.S. Border Patrol directly accessed networks in Lake Stevens, Marysville and Mukilteo at least 200 times between May and June, records show. The Department of Homeland Security made at least 175 searches from March to May. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service made at least 1,905 searches between April and June. Other agencies included U.S. Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms branches, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. General Services Administration.

“It’s hard to overstate the scope of how much data about people’s movements can be scooped up and collected by these systems and then made available for searches by law enforcement locally, nationwide and federally,” said Phil Neff, research coordinator for the University of Washington Center for Human Rights.

In August, a news outlet in Denver found border patrol agents accessed Flock data in Loveland, Colorado. Shortly after, Langley wrote in a statement that Flock engaged in “limited pilots” with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations. At the time, he said the company had “paused” all federal pilot programs. Many agencies seemed to have inadvertently given federal agencies access by enabling Flock’s nationwide lookup feature. Agencies that had nationwide lookup enabled at the time on active networks include Arlington, Everett, Lake Stevens, Marysville and Mukilteo.

“We clearly communicated poorly,” Langley said in his Aug. 25 statement. “We also didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users.”

Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel confirmed in a statement to The Daily Herald on Thursday that Flock does not currently have contractual relationships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any other Department of Homeland Security agencies. Since pausing federal pilots, Flock has made “substantial investments” in compliance training for its customers, Lewbel said.

“Flock never automatically enrolls agencies in data sharing, so it is inaccurate to say agencies were sharing data ‘without the police departments’ knowledge,’” Lewbel said. “Each agency fully owns and controls 100% of its data, deciding if, when, and with whom to share. Sharing can be revoked at any time.”

Still, local police chiefs say they weren’t aware for months that federal agencies accessed their network. Mukilteo Police Chief Andy Illyn said he wasn’t aware until the University of Washington report was released Oct. 21, after federal agencies had searched Mukilteo’s data more than 1,000 times.

“In August, we did receive communication from them, but the communication was more worded as, ‘Hey, here’s some system updates we’ve done,’” Illyn said. “What we never received from Flock was, ‘We have entered into a pilot program with Customs and Border Patrol. And by the way, if nationwide search is on, they have access to your cameras.’”

Indirect access

Even when the federal pilots weren’t active, records showed out-of-state law enforcement agencies made hundreds of searches seemingly on behalf of federal agencies or specifically for immigration enforcement.

When an officer makes a search in Flock, they are required to enter a reason for the search, which is visible in the network audit. Records showed some officers making searches with reasons listed as “immigration,” “ICE ERO” or “HSI assist.” Many of these searches were made by officers in states where it’s legal to comply with federal immigration enforcement, including Florida, Texas and Georgia.

In every city that provided a network audit, there were searches from thousands of agencies across the country at some point in the last year. While the majority of search reasons were tied to a specific crime, thousands of searches included vague reasons, such as “investigation,” “criminal justice” or “agency assist,” with no case number attached. Without specifics, it’s difficult to tell why officers made certain searches into Snohomish County networks.

In May, 404 Media reported an officer in Texas searched Flock cameras nationwide to locate a woman who reportedly self-administered an abortion. The search — “had an abortion, search for female” — showed up in Lake Stevens, Marysville and Mukilteo.

All three cities where the search appeared explicitly mention in their department policies that officers are prohibited from using Flock to track people who are seeking abortions or gender-affirming care.

As of Sept. 10, Marysville still had the nationwide lookup feature enabled, records show.

“We only work with federal agencies on criminal cases,” Marysville Police Chief Erik Scairpon said in a statement Thursday. “Immigration enforcement is a civil federal matter, and we do not engage in it to comply with Washington State law. Our policy—aligned with the 2018 Keep Washington Working Act—prohibits using our systems for immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation, targeting anyone based on a protected class (like race, sex, or religion), or for personal use.”

As of Sept. 5, Arlington appeared to still have the nationwide lookup feature enabled. Its organization audit showed officers making searches to 6,535 networks, much higher than the number of networks in Washington state. Agencies can only search networks nationwide if they have the nationwide lookup feature enabled.

“It certainly violates the spirit of our Keep Washington Working Act,” said State Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds. “The goal of the Legislature was that the federal government would manage its immigration enforcement and that our state and local resources would be focused on protecting our communities from more immediate crimes and public safety risks.”

Creating safeguards

Over the past few months, some Snohomish County agencies have started taking measures to prevent unauthorized use of their Flock data.

The Mukilteo Police Department disabled the national lookup feature after the University of Washington published its report, six months after its cameras became operational. After Oct. 21, no searches from out-of-state agencies appeared in Mukilteo’s network audit.

Everett disabled its nationwide lookup feature on July 11, Everett Police Chief John DeRousse said, nine months after its cameras went live. Everett’s organization audit showed that searches made by Everett officers dropped to a maximum of 252 networks on July 11, down from 6,372 networks earlier in the month.

Lake Stevens also disabled its nationwide lookup feature in July after finding out agencies in Eastern Washington accessed its network, Deputy Chief Dean Thomas said. The department had only intended to share data with departments in Western Washington, he said. Lake Stevens’ cameras went live in October 2024.

Mill Creek turned off nationwide lookup on Oct. 1, two days after the cameras went live, Mill Creek spokesperson Jody Hawkins said in a statement Wednesday. On Monday, Mill Creek restricted its network to Snohomish County agencies.

In Lynnwood, Police Chief Cole Langdon said the department turned off the nationwide lookup feature nine days after the cameras became operational. Once he realized out-of-state agencies were accessing the network, the department reached out to Flock.

“They said you’ve got to disable this setting, otherwise you’re creating this reciprocal, two-way street,” Langdon said.

The department’s analyst toggled the setting on and off for a couple of days to grab screenshots for training purposes, he said. In just 11 days, agencies outside of Washington state made more than 100,000 searches on the Lynnwood network, records show.

Within that time, the Jacksonville, Florida sheriff’s office alone made nearly 800 searches, including seven for “immigration” and 99 for “investigation” with no case number. Nine searches from Franklin County, Pennsylvania, were for specific immigration operations.

Everett and Lynnwood only directly share their networks with agencies in Washington state that have signed their user agreements. Agencies must agree not to use Flock for “the sole purpose” of immigration enforcement, to track vehicles traveling to or from healthcare facilities, to monitor activities protected by the First Amendment, or for personal use.

“There’s some agencies in the state that say they’re not going to follow state immigration laws,” Everett Police Chief John DeRousse. “If we hear that, and then they request to use our system, we would never allow it. It’s really important that we use this to the benefit of our community.”

Now, Lynnwood has temporarily stopped any agency from being able to access its network until there’s an agreement among Washington agencies on how the technology will be used.

“I just recognize the sensitivity in our community, and frankly in our country, right now from concerns about this powerful tool,” Langdon said. “I want to honor that, and I want to make sure we’re doing it right, but I also want to find a space where this tool can continue to be used because it’s valuable in furthering public safety, but I got to strike that balance.”

Langdon and Illyn said there have been conversations among Snohomish County agencies about creating a unified Flock policy in the county, but the discussions are still in early stages.

On Oct. 1, Flock announced it added a keyword filter so agencies can decide to immediately block any search with the reason “immigration” or “abortion.” There are no filters in place to flag vague searches.

“The fact is that people searching Flock systems can put in whatever keyword they want, and that really is no safeguard at all,” Neff said.

A Flock Safety camera on Oct. 28, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Purchase Photo

‘We were right’

In June, Mountlake Terrace residents filled the council chamber when the city was set to approve a contract with Flock. Public commenters raised concerns over privacy and uncertainty over how Flock could use the data.

“A few months ago, Snohomish County residents like me warned our City Councils about the risks of Flock cameras and were deeply disappointed after the cameras were approved and our concerns ignored,” said Alvaro Guillen, a local immigrant community leader, in a Sunday statement to The Daily Herald. “Recent reports proved that we were right.”

Guillen said local immigrants are more reluctant to report crimes to police for fear that their immigration status will be checked and shared, harming the relationship between residents and police departments. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has reassigned thousands of federal agents to help with immigration enforcement. The spending bill Trump signed in July provided billions in additional funding for immigration enforcement.

“Sadly, we are also seeing that families are avoiding seeking medical care, reporting domestic violence, enrolling children in school, or accessing public services in our County out of fear that using these services will expose their personal information to immigration enforcement,” Guillen said. “These critical local services are seen as a trap, and we hear that routine life activities like driving to school or to the grocery store have been turned into potential risks creating constant psychological stress and trauma.”

Van Dinh-Kuno, director of Refugee & Immigrant Services Northwest, said fears of being surveilled by Flock cameras are adding to the stress immigrants in the area are already feeling.

“I just don’t know the people will survive the next 38 months; we’re counting month by month,” she said Thursday. “I’m totally opposed to using Flock cameras as a tool to terrorize the refugee and the immigrant community.”

After the University of Washington Center for Human Rights report, Lynnwood residents filled the City Council chamber on Monday, urging the council to reconsider its contract with Flock.

“The real question is not just, ‘Does this solve crime?’” Lynnwood resident Xavier Rodriguez said at the Lynnwood meeting. “It’s, ‘What kind of infrastructure are we building for the future, and who ultimately controls that data?’ The long-term civil liberties risked are far greater than the advertised short-term benefits.”

Mountlake Terrace resident Dustin Dekoekkoek said in an interview Thursday that turning off the nationwide lookup feature might not be enough to address the public’s concerns.

“The danger with Flock is that network effect and just so many potential points of security failure, which it seems like we’ve seen time and time again that continues to happen,” he said.

Public records questions

The rapid implementation of Flock cameras has also spurred questions about what data is considered public record.

Since May, Stanwood’s Flock cameras have been on pause as a public records lawsuit makes its way through Skagit County Superior Court. In April, an individual requested Flock camera footage from Stanwood. In light of the request, the city decided in June to seek a court judgment that Flock footage either is not public record or is exempt from the public records act.

“Requiring public agencies to generate a new search in the Flock cloud system for the sole purpose of accessing and downloading data requested under the PRA, data which the agency had not previously accessed, would require the agency to create new public records not in existence at the time of the request,” Stanwood’s complaint read.

Stanwood is working with Sedro-Woolley, which received a similar request from the individual. A motion hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday.

The individual also filed public records lawsuits against Stanwood and Lynnwood.

Mountlake Terrace has delayed installing its Flock cameras until the “current legal situation sorts itself out,” Mountlake Terrace City Manager Jeff Niten said at a September council meeting.

Arlington denied The Daily Herald’s request for its network audit, citing similar reasons as Stanwood. The network audit does not include Flock camera footage.

“The requested documents consist of Flock’s reporting of which other agencies accessed data; the City does not prepare, own, use, or retain this audit report,” Police Services Manager Jennifer Bilow said in response to the request. “Therefore, the portion of the request for Flock’s network audits is denied because the document does not meet the definition of a public record under RCW 42.56.010(3).”

Arlington also denied a request for its network audit from the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights. The center is appealing Arlington’s decision.

In his statement, Scairpon expressed concerns about the lack of clarity regarding public records.

“We’re concerned about public records rules that force us to release large volumes of license plate reader data,” he said. “These releases aren’t solving crimes; instead, some groups post this data online, potentially permanently, undermining everyone’s privacy and enabling publicly sourced tracking. That runs counter to the privacy goals they claim to support.”

‘Do the pros outweigh the cons?’

Law enforcement officers say Flock cameras have helped their departments locate stolen vehicles, track missing people and solve crimes faster.

“Our Flock cameras in Marysville have helped solve homicides, find missing or endangered people, and recover stolen vehicles, making our community safer,” Scairpon said.

In Everett, the number of stolen vehicles per month in 2025 is down 67% from the city’s previous three-year average, according to its most recent Flock report. From September 2024 to August, Flock assisted Everett with 183 arrests, 95 vehicle recoveries and 386 investigative assists.

“Every day there’s another success story on the use of Flock,” DeRousse said.

In some cases, the nationwide lookup tool can be beneficial in tracking a missing person or someone who fled Washington after committing a crime. Langdon said that while there’s value in being able to access cameras in other states, it’s not worth the risk of outside agencies using the technology for unauthorized purposes.

Illyn said he wants to find a way to enable nationwide search while ensuring out-of-state agencies are only using Flock for purposes allowed in Mukilteo. In one recent case, Mukilteo police were looking for an elderly man with dementia who left his family home. After issuing a Silver Alert, a Flock camera in Idaho found his vehicle, and Idaho law enforcement reunited him with his family.

In Lynnwood, Flock cameras have located 66 stolen vehicles or license plates over the past two months, Mayor Christine Frizzell said at Monday’s meeting. In September, the system flagged nearly 600 vehicles that were being actively investigated for a crime by a Washington agency and 138 vehicles associated with domestic violence protection orders.

“There are legitimate benefits to the technology,” Lynnwood City Council member Robert Leutwyler said at Monday’s meeting. “The question is, do those pros outweigh the cons?”

State Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Shoreline, said automated license plate readers can serve as a crime deterrent, which she said is more effective than increasing criminal penalties. In 2022, 61% of violent crimes in Washington went unsolved, according to The Council of State Governments Justice Center.

“I support, in concept, having ALPRs,” Davis said. “But I absolutely believe that there needs to be appropriate sideboards because the (University of Washington) report highlighted multiple instances of totally egregious, completely inappropriate utilization of the data.”

Washington does not have any explicit laws regarding automated license plate readers. Davis said that recently the Legislature has been playing catch-up when it comes to rapidly advancing technology, such as artificial intelligence.

“Frequently, technology thrusts ahead of policy regulation,” Davis said. “And we’ve seen that in all sorts of spheres where the state or federal regulations can’t keep up with the pace of play.”

American Civil Liberties Union Washington is looking to change that. The organization is drafting state legislation that would restrict who agencies can share automated license plate reader data with and how long they can hold onto the data.

“We all deserve to move through our communities without being extensively tracked or surveilled, or worrying that data about our movements and our behaviors are going to be shared with other state agencies or with the federal government,” said Tee Sannon, technology policy program director for ACLU Washington. “That’s why these common-sense data protections are needed, and why we’ve said that lawmakers really need to act now.”

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.

Gallery

A Flock Safety camera on Oct. 28, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)