Grand Rapids police, Flock officials face questions over data sharing and ICE

Grand Rapids police and Flock Safety representatives told the city's Public Safety Committee that the company has no direct contract sharing license-plate data with ICE or DHS, and that officers cannot filter searches specifically for immigration enforcement. Flock's Kerry McCormack said data-sharing decisions rest entirely with the local agency running the cameras.

Yet when Commissioner Milinda Ysasi asked which federal agencies Grand Rapids actually shares its data with, neither the deputy chief nor the sergeant answered directly, only noting a transparency-portal page is in the works with no publication date. The ACLU's Liz Balck pointed out that even without a direct ICE contract, data can reach federal immigration enforcement secondhand through other agencies.

The department also can't say where its 31 cameras are located, and license plate readers remain exempt from the city's own surveillance-reporting rules thanks to a grandfather clause predating 2015 policy. City officials offered, in lieu of real answers, a vague commitment to an annual report.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.