License plate camera firm halts cooperation with feds amid information-sharing concerns

Source: WEEK-TV Peoria, IL/AP

Published: Aug. 26, 2025 at 2:31 AM EDT|Updated: 5 hours ago


SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP and 25News Now) — One of the nation’s leading operators of automated license-plate reading systems announced Monday it has paused its operations with federal agencies because of confusion and concern — including in Illinois — about the purpose of their investigations.

Flock Safety cameras are mounted in more than 4,000 communities nationwide including Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Bloomington, Normal, and LeRoy. The company put a hold last week on pilot programs with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection and its law enforcement arm, Homeland Security Investigations, according to a statement by its founder and CEO, Garrett Langley.

Among officials in other jurisdictions, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias raised concerns. He announced Monday that an audit found Customs and Border Protection had accessed Illinois data, although he didn’t say that the agency was seeking immigration-related information. A 2023 law the Democrat pushed bars sharing license plate data with police investigating out-of-state abortions or undocumented immigrants.

“This sharing of license plate data of motorists who drive on Illinois roads is a clear violation of the state law,” Giannoulias said in a statement. ”This law, passed two years ago, aimed to strengthen how data is shared and prevent this exact thing from happening,”

Read more: https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/08/26/license-plate-camera-firm-halts-cooperation-with-feds-amid-information-sharing-concerns/