US Police Departments Use School Security Cameras for Immigration Enforcement

Police Departments Across the United States are Utilizing School District Security Cameras to Support Federal Immigration Enforcement Efforts, According to an Investigation by The 74

An investigation by The 74 reveals police departments are using school district security cameras to support federal immigration enforcement efforts across the United States.

• Hundreds of thousands of audit logs from a one-month period show police departments are searching a national database of automated license plate reader (ALPR) data, which includes information from school cameras, for immigration-related investigations.
• These audit logs originated from Texas school districts that contract with Flock Safety, a company providing AI-powered license plate readers. Flock Safety's cameras record license plate numbers, timestamps, and other details, uploading them to a cloud server.
• Customers, including schools, determine if they share data with other police agencies in Flock's national network.
• Several law enforcement leaders confirmed conducting these searches to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with federal immigration law enforcement.
• The Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions have impacted schools, with immigrant families reportedly targeted during school drop-offs and pick-ups. School parking lots are locations where these cameras are present.
• The use of campus surveillance technology for immigration enforcement raises questions regarding its intended purpose for student safety.

Flock devices have been installed in over 100 public school systems nationally. Audit logs from six Texas school districts indicate campus camera feeds are part of a national database accessible by police agencies nationwide.

While school police use Flock cameras for incidents like "road rage" and "vandalism," there is no evidence school districts themselves use the devices for immigration purposes or are aware of other agencies doing so.

Previous research by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights and 404 Media reported police agencies nationwide using Flock camera feeds to assist federal immigration officials. Some local agencies enabled direct sharing with US Border Patrol.

• Huffman Independent School District (Texas): The campus police chief's administrative assistant granted Border Patrol access to district Flock Safety license plate readers in May.
• Alvin Independent School District (Texas): Over 3,100 police agencies conducted more than 733,000 searches on the district's eight cameras over a one-month period (December 2025 - early January). Of these, 620 searches by 30 law enforcement agencies, including those from Florida, Georgia, Indiana, and Tennessee, cited immigration-related reasons.

Flock offers standardized search reasons, including "Immigration (civil/administrative)" and "Immigration (criminal)." The No Tech Criminalization in Education (NOTICE) Coalition highlighted the scale of digital surveillance in schools.

Three of the top 10 agencies conducting immigration-related searches in the Alvin school district logs participate in the 287(g) program, which deputizes local officers for certain immigration enforcement functions.

Alvin ISD police chief directed questions to a district spokesperson, who did not comment. Huffman ISD is reviewing the matter. Flock Safety and DHS did not respond to comment requests.

Alvin school district police officers cannot search their own devices for immigration reasons but allow such queries from out-of-state officers. Civil immigration searches were more than twice as frequent as criminal immigration investigations.

Lt. Blake Hitchcock of Carrollton, Georgia police department stated that immigration-related searches were conducted at the request of the DHS to assist federal agents, indicating that "if federal agents request assistance with an immigration case, his office will provide it."

Flock searches are typically broad national queries, automatically checking all cameras shared with the nationwide database.

Constable Justin West of Galveston, Texas, confirmed that immigration-related searches from his department in Alvin school district logs were linked to the county’s 287(g) program participation. Deputies used Flock cameras to determine locations and travel patterns of individuals being sought, leading to several arrests.

The police department in Texas City, Texas, stated its searches in the Alvin school district log categorized as immigration-related were due to a "clerical error" and denied using the system for federal immigration enforcement.

Flock Safety has stated it does not provide DHS with direct access to its cameras, asserting that data-sharing decisions are made by local customers. The company noted it had paused ongoing federal pilot programs with DHS after scrutiny.

Flock marketing materials promote data sharing, stating, "Not only do we place cameras where you need them... we offer access to available cameras in your community and beyond your jurisdiction."

Adam Wandt, an attorney and associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, acknowledged the privacy concerns raised by these devices. He questioned whether broad sharing of school-controlled camera data violates federal student privacy rules and anticipates significant discussions within school districts contracting with Flock Safety.