Members of City Council and the Evanston Police Department fielded questions and concerns about Evanston’s automated license plate recognition technology at Monday’s council meeting, as some believe it may endanger city ordinances safeguarding residents’ data related to immigration status, abortion access and gender-affirming health care.
Reports from technology-based news outlet 404 Media late last month highlighted that two Illinois cities using license plate cameras from Flock Safety, a surveillance company, had constituents’ information weaponized during federal immigration enforcement and out-of-state anti-abortion enforcement, violating Illinois state law.
Flock, a self-described “all-in-one technology solution” to crime, serves more than 5,000 U.S. communities — including Evanston. The city employs 18 stationary automatic license plate reader cameras and one mobile ALPR camera, and has worked with Flock since its initial 2022 contract, according to EPD Sergeant Tom Giese, who spoke at the meeting.
A June 16 analysis from the Evanston RoundTable reported that at least seven out-of-state agencies tracking license plates for immigration enforcement accessed information about Evanston via Flock’s national lookup tool, which allows out-of-state parties to access the city’s network for law enforcement purposes.
The report sparked outcry from Mayor Daniel Biss, who condemned the use of the national lookup feature in a press conference earlier on Monday.
“I’m personally uncomfortable using it because of how powerful a law enforcement tool it is — unless we are absolutely certain that none of that data will ever be used to sell out Evanston residents or people traveling through Evanston relative to immigration, reproductive care, gender-affirming care or anything else,” Biss said.
The technology endangers the data protections provided by Evanston’s two ordinances, the Welcoming City Ordinance and the newly-passed Health Data Protection Ordinance, which bar the city from sharing sensitive information about immigration status, abortion access and gender-affirming care to out-of-state actors looking to penalize individuals without warrants.
Since the RoundTable report and subsequent conversations with Flock Safety, EPD has disabled the system’s national search tool, blocking all out-of-state access to the city’s information, according to Chief of Police Schenita Stewart, who spoke at Monday night’s council meeting.
The issue became a flashpoint in the meeting during Stewart and Giese’s brief public announcement, as EPD suggested resuming use of the national lookup function after Flock undergoes an active state-wide investigation and audit into the technology. Biss staunchly opposed the stance.
“I cannot envision a universe where I learn anything that gets me to a place where switching on the national lookup seems appropriate,” Biss said.
EPD emphasized the network’s contribution to Evanston’s low crime rate, and said less than 1% of out-of-state actors have violated Illinois law in the use of Flock’s ALPR technologies.
While both Biss and Stewart affirmed that EPD had not used the Flock ALPR technology in violation of Illinois law, Biss condemned understating others’ misuse of the system. He imagined a hypothetical scenario where the city allowed a few instances “slip by” where the technology enabled U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to “lift people off the street” in Evanston.
Other council members disputed the mayor’s stance to forgo the national network in day-to-day operations and instead had confidence in EPD’s proposal to work with the Council to further regulate ALPR technology.
“(If) my child’s missing, I’m calling every police that I know, and you better turn on every camera, because you’re going to be chasing the person, getting my kid.” Ald. Krissie Harris (2nd) said. “So there are instances where (national lookup) is important.”
The debate also spurred questions about the utility of going to great lengths to safeguard the information from the federal government.
Ald. Parielle Davis (7th) confirmed with city staff that Evanston must share data on immigration, reproductive and gender-affirming care if presented with a lawfully issued judicial warrant, as per the Welcoming City Ordinance and the Health Data Protection Ordinance.
“If the federal government wants it, they’ll get it,” Davis said.
Broader questions also arose about the long-term enforcement of the city’s protective ordinances amid federal and state crackdowns targeting “sanctuary” jurisdictions for immigration and health care access.
Evanston resident David Sutherland protested the passing of the Health Data Protection Ordinance during Monday’s public comment due to the “false sense of security” such ordinances promote despite ongoing use of surveillance systems like ALPR.
“Evanston cannot be a ‘welcoming’ city and a surveillance city at the same time,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland called for the termination of the city’s contract with Flock, which goes through 2028, due to the cameras’ conflict with city values and ordinances.
However, Evanston Corporation Counsel Alex Ruggie said Flock has not violated any terms of their contract with Evanston, since database searches were not used for Evanston-specific data.
Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) proposed scheduling a special hearing to further discuss the matter at a later date and chart the city’s next steps with Flock cameras and its national lookup feature.
Despite the issues that come with the protective ordinances’ enforcement, Biss affirmed the city’s commitment to them at the press conference earlier that day.
“We are going to continue doing everything in our power to make Evanston safe, to make Evanston welcoming and to provide the protections that we can, given the powers that we have as the government,” Biss said.
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