LYNNWOOD—The Lynnwood Police Department on Friday, October 24, issued a statement to clarify and “address potential misconceptions” of its use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology in response to a recent report by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. The report titled, “Leaving the Door Wide Open: Flock Surveillance Systems and Immigration Enforcement in Washington State,” suggested that Lynnwood’s ALPR data may have been accessed for immigration-related queries raising concerns about potential misuse of ALPR data for federal immigration enforcement.
“We take the concerns raised in the UW report seriously, but it’s important to clarify that Lynnwood has not shared ALPR data with federal immigration enforcement,” said Lynnwood Police Chief Cole Langdon. “Our team acted quickly and decisively to close unintended access pathways and ensure our system aligns with state law and community expectations.”
Lynnwood’s ALPR system became operational on June 29, 2025, after being unanimously approved in January 2025 by the Lynnwood City Council to combat rising motor vehicle thefts. The Lynnwood Police Department then entered into a two-year agreement with Flock Safety to lease 25 of its Falcon ALPR cameras that were placed at strategic—high traffic and/or high-crime—locations around the city.
On July 1, LPD staff identified unauthorized access by two out-of-state law enforcement agencies—the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Pennsylvania and the Jacksonville Police Department in Florida—and promptly began investigating with Flock Safety, the system’s vendor. By July 8, it was determined that a “nationwide search” feature had inadvertently allowed reciprocal access to Lynnwood’s data for agencies outside Washington State…