Are local police forces turning over data on every car passing on our roads to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of Trump’s deportation drive? That’s the question raised by a March 12th article in the Guardian on Westchester County NY on “Ice accessed car trackers in sanctuary cities that could help in raids, files show” . From what we know, this would seem to have long been local policy in Binghamton and Broome County.

A year ago I posted an article warning of such possibilities: “Hochul’s Watching You (and so is your local PD). It provides details on the rise of license plate readers (LPRs) deployed by local city police forces, the Broome County Sheriff and SUNY-Binghamton. Governor Hochul recently provided over $1 million to expand the system locally. The Sheriff alone received $840,000.

LPRs collect and distribute data on every passing car through contracts with private corporations, e.g. Flock, whose standard practice is to share and send streams of data to local and Federal law enforcement agencies.  LPR data is locally compiled and shared with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies through the recently expanded regional intelligence center, aka “crime analysis center,” housed in the Binghamton Police Department and funded and directed by New York State.

For those working to support undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylees,  the danger has always lurked in the background that license plate readers will be used to locate, arrest, and deport persons.  Most deportations take place through everyday actions by officers, e.g. after police or sheriff deputies stop persons on streets or cars and discover undocumented persons.  Are local cities and the county sheriff sharing the data directly with ICE?  One must assume so, given the nature of the contracts with Flock and other corporations. The Sheriff has long celebrated the use of LPRs and has been a vocal Trump supporter.  The Broome County jail regularly houses dozens of persons for the Federal government, including pesons held on Federal migration charges, and earns $ 1 million or so every year from doing so. Section 413.4 of the  Binghamton Police Department’s Policy Manual explicitly states their officers will contact ICE and hold persons for them.  Binghamton University cooperates with the intelligence center as well and has a representative from its force on the center’s board of directors.

We need to know more.  Does Flock and other contractors share data and with whom?  Do local city and county governments, and SUNY-Binghamton, affirm and validate the collection and distribution of data on everyone to the FBI, CIA, NSA, and ICE?  We don’t know. We should. Ask your local representatives.

And next time you drive down Riverside Drive,

or Vestal Parkway

or Main and Floral

or enter the SUNY-Binghamton campus,

do wave to the camera overhead.