Police Officer Fired for Sharing Her Flock Safety Login With ICE Agent Husband

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A Georgia police officer was fired after an investigation revealed she allowed her husband, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, to access her Flock license plate reader login.

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This case is another example of the type of behavior critics of Flock Safety cameras have criticized.

The Savannah Police Department fired officer Amber Harpe, along with other law enforcement employees, for misusing the surveillance network, according to The Verge.

Now, former Savannah police officer Amber Harpe was fired in August following a department investigation that found she had shared her Flock login information with her husband, Tyler Harpe, an ICE agent. SPD does not share its Flock data with ICE and said sharing access to the system violated the department’s security protocols.

While he had unauthorized access to the system, Tyler Harpe conducted 983 searches related to 97 license plates, which were overwhelmingly registered to Hispanic drivers, according to Savannah’s local ABC affiliate, WJCL. The Harpes defended their actions, saying they didn’t use access for personal reasons and that the searches were strictly for “law-enforcement purposes.”

Interim Major Max Nowinsky originally recommended a light eight-hour suspension for Harpe. However, Major Michelle Halford and Assistant Police Chief Robert Gavin disagreed, and they removed her from the force. Harpe was fired, along with five other SPD employees, after an internal investigation uncovered Flock misuse. Four of them were later arrested; however, Harpe was not one of them.

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Harpe joined the department in March 2020 and worked in its Behavioral Health Unit and has no prior disciplinary actions against her.

Her husband told investigators that ICE built target packages on everyone he searched and that each of the targets had active arrest warrants, WJCL reported. He said he made no personal searches and stopped using the database after ICE halted vehicle stops.

In her appeal, Harpe noted that “Every search he conducted was for law enforcement use only and not for personal gain” and that “There was no malicious intent, no personal gain, and no intent to harm the Department or undermine public trust.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has not charged Harpe, but ICE is investigating the matter “because of its agent’s involvement,” according to WTOC.

The police department said, “SPD does share credentials with different agencies, but ICE is not one of them.”

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