Surveillance data captured by the Flock camera network is not supposed to be shared with federal authorities for the purposes of immigration enforcement, but the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism and WHRO report that at least five Virginia localities have done so anyway.
In a report released on July 3, the Flock network has been used for at least 50 immigration-related searches over a ten-month period according to a search of logs.
The Charlottesville Police Department installed ten cameras across the city last year.
In June, Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis told Council that data would no longer be shared with external public safety agencies out of a concern that footage would be used for this purpose. Kochis said some Virginia localities have agreed to cooperate with the federal government in a program known as 287(g).
“There are 13 of them in Virginia,” Kochis said. “Some of them are near here. And so because of that and the possibility that they could be doing enforcement with Flock if they have access to it, we have also shut off to all local jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
In February, Chief Kochis had shared specific examples with Council of crimes that he claimed had been solved using Flock.
To learn more about the use of Flock cameras take a look at the lengthy report here.
In February, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 47 directing state police and corrections officers to cooperate with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement removal operations and requested Virginia localities do so as well.
On July 2, Youngkin defended the practice as reported by Markus Schmidt in the Virginia Mercury.
Before you go: This article first went out in the July 3, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and then posted here a day later. This is a work of Town Crier Productions, an information company of one that seeks to inform the community. Learn more about how you can support the work.
Discover more from Information Charlottesville
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
