ALEXANDRIA, VA - The police chief in Alexandria, Virginia, caved to the mob and announced last week that the department has stopped sharing ALPR (automated license plate reader) or Flock camera data with law enforcement agencies that are cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) via 287(g) agreements, the Alexandria Brief reported.
“I no longer share with law enforcement agencies that have signed 287s,” Chief Tarrick McGuire told a city commission. “It’s not a political issue for me. It’s an issue when I get asked the question, chief, how can you ensure that these things are not going on.”
Virginia is, of course, a sanctuary state under so-called “moderate” turned unhinged radical Gov. Abigail Spanberger. The claim that his move was not a “political issue” does not appear to hold water. He said he made the decision after talking with community members and the city manager.
“I made that executive decision,” he insisted. McGuire was joined by members of his command staff, including his chief of staff and Assistant Chiefs Jason North and Tina Laguna.
It was earlier reported by the Alexandria Brief that 11 law enforcement agencies were eliminated from the city’s Flock Safety sharing list between last Friday and Tuesday. All held 287(g) agreements with ICE. Department officials refused to answer questions about the removals at that time.
McGuire said that there are different versions of the 287(g) program, with some sheriff’s offices signing agreements covering their jails, while others cover immigration enforcement on the street. All agencies removed from Alexandria’s list fell under the latter, the so-called “task force” model, which deputizes officers to enforce federal immigration law during routine patrol. The only 287(g) participant still listed on Alexandria’s list is the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, which holds the narrower Warrant Service Officer agreement.
Alexandria is changing vendors, moving away from Flock, and McGuire is soliciting the commission’s input on the matter. “No politics” involved, however.
“Before we move on to a different vendor, I do want to come back and hear you all’s feedback on what you think those safeguards should be,” McGuire said. He suggested members forward a list of priorities limited to between five and ten to his chief of staff within a week and said he would forward those to the vendors being considered.
One of the commissioners, Steve Davidson, complained that concerns about the technology were raised in 2023 but had fallen on deaf ears.
“I’m pleased that you’re coming to us for input,” Davidson told McGuire. He bragged that the table (commission) is “loaded with people who have that kind of IT and data management expertise, who can look at some of these agreements that we get ourselves into and identify the pitfalls.”
Clearly “no politics” is involved.
Davidson admitted that the public debate over Flock cameras has blurred the message of what the technology can do, claiming “there’s nothing inherently wrong” with police using surveillance technology. Rather, the concern is how data is collected, handled, and controlled.
McGuire told commissioners that policy over video surveillance would be incorporated into wide-ranging governance of all department technology.
Another commissioner, Ben McGinnis, said that Flock has changed the terms of service for the cameras without notice to the city and without any input from the city. He claimed that “Working with Flock specifically comes at a significant cost to all of us.”
The commission is an advisory committee only and has no decision-making or regulatory authority. In June, it recorded a unanimous vote “to ensure that there is a vote at the next meeting on Ben’s [McGinnis] motion to suggest that the City cancel their contract with Flock.” That item did not appear on last Thursday’s agenda.
The Flock cameras themselves do not appear to be an issue in Alexandria. According to McGuire, over the past year, 121 million vehicles have driven through the city, and less than one hundredth of one percent have been queried by Alexandria police officers in connection with a criminal case.
He emphasized that the department’s audits have found clerical errors but no malicious misuse, which he reported to the council and in response to a request from the Brief. Officers conducting a search must select an offense category from a dropdown menu and a case or call number to run a query.
“I have a difference of opinion on what misuse is,” McGuire said, describing misuse as an officer tracking a former partner. “I believe you should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I don’t believe that you should be a police officer.”
Police officials nationwide have emphasized the success Flock cameras and their brethren have had in solving crimes. McGuire cited two local cases as examples: the stabbing of a homeless man on the street earlier last week, leading to an arrest in 24 hours, and the prosecution of a former DC Metro police officer in connection with a series of rapes across the region.
He disputed the notion that the city has to choose between the two. “We can have strong governance, and we can ensure that we’re protecting the Constitution,” he said.
Comments