The Savannah Police Department says it does not share Flock data with ICE and that the shared credentials broke security protocols.

Savannah Police Department fired officer Amber Harpe in August after an internal investigation found she shared her Flock login credentials with her husband, Tyler Harpe, who works as an ICE agent. The department says it does not share Flock data with ICE and that the arrangement violated its security protocols.

Tyler Harpe ran 983 searches covering 97 license plates while logged into the system without authorization, according to WJCL, Savannah’s local ABC affiliate. Records show the plates overwhelmingly belonged to Hispanic drivers. Interim Major Max Nowinsky first recommended an eight-hour suspension, but Major Michelle Halford and Assistant Police Chief Robert Gavin pushed for removal instead.

Operators running vendor-hosted systems such as Flock face the same risk whenever a single login works across agencies and outside partners. Query-level monitoring, scoped credentials, and alerts on volume spikes catch misuse that policy documents alone do not stop.

Police did not arrest Harpe, though they arrested four other employees after the broader probe into Flock misuse at the department. Agencies that buy license plate reader data should expect scrutiny of access logs, retention terms, and which staff can query plates tied to immigration enforcement.

What matters

• Savannah police fired Amber Harpe after an investigation found she gave her ICE agent husband Flock access.
• Credential sharing bypasses the audit trails that agencies and vendors rely on to catch misuse of data.
• The internal probe led to arrests of four other employees, and more Flock audits may follow.

Why it matters

The internal probe led to arrests of four other employees, and more Flock audits may follow.

This GenAI News article was prepared in original wording using reporting and materials published by The Verge. Source reference: https://www.theverge.com/policy/1013573/spd-officer-fired-flock-ice-husband.

Drafted by the GenAI News review pipeline.