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Texas sheriff's office accessed Mount Prospect license plate data in immigration searches, police say

The Brief The Illinois Secretary of State's Office informed Mount Prospect of their data, as well as other Illinois law enforcement agencies,' was accessed through the National Lookup feature via Flock Safety by other law enforcement agencies for immigration enforcement purposes. The Johnson County Sheriff's Department in Texas utilized the feature, accessing the data from over 83,000 cameras around the country, including Mount Prospect's. Mount Prospect has since opted out of the program. MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. - A Texas sheriff's department accessed license plate reader data from Mount Prospect police as part of immigration enforcement efforts, in violation of Illinois law, authorities said. What we know The Illinois Secretary of State's Office informed Mount Prospect that its data—and that of other Illinois law enforcement agencies—was accessed through the National Lookup feature via Flock Safety by other law enforcement agencies for immigration enforcement purposes. This is a violation of Illinois law, according to authorities. Police said the investigation also revealed that other law enforcement agencies conducted 262 immigration-related searches on Mount Prospect's data. The Johnson County Sheriff's Department in Texas utilized the feature, accessing the data from over 83,000 cameras around the country, including Mount Prospect's. Mount Prospect has since opted out of the program. What they're saying "I am tremendously upset that some law enforcement agencies who agreed to follow Illinois law, in order to gain access to our ALPR data, conducted illegal searches violating the trust of our community", said Chief of Police Michael Eterno "As disappointed as I am with these other agencies, I want to emphasize that no member of the Mount Prospect Police Department shared ALPR data in violation of the law. I realize that this misuse of Mount Prospect's ALPR data violates the trust of our community, and we as a department will continue to work to enhance the Flock ALPR software and ensure this abuse does not occur in the future," said Chief Eterno. Flock Safety said it is tightening access to the Illinois data. The Source Details for this story were provided by the Mount Prospect Police Department.