Richmond police ban feds from tracking immigrants' license plate data
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
A federal agency was using Richmond's license plate reader system for immigration enforcement, the city's police department announced this week.
Why it matters: RPD has permanently blocked all federal agencies from being able to do so, saying the action violates department policy.
Catch up quick: Police said Tuesday that they learned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been improperly accessing the automatic license plate reader data from its provider, Flock Safety, for months.
- RPD had granted ATF access to the data to assist with its investigations in February, a month before the federal agency got involved with immigration enforcement.
- Police say they found out in June that ATF agents had been making immigration-related searches in the system since March. Then RPD cut them off.
What they're saying: "If ATF had formally requested access for that purpose, I would have denied it," Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said in a statement.
- Edwards has previously said RPD wouldn't work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make arrests, citing a need to maintain community trust.
The other side: ATF officials said in a statement that they "regret that this situation occurred" and added that the searches "were related to criminal activity, not civil immigration enforcement."
The big picture: The latest incident is part of a broader pattern happening across Virginia, where advocates are scrutinizing how data from Flock Safety's automatic license plate readers (ALPR) has been used for immigration surveillance.
By the numbers: A WHRO investigation found dozens of immigration-related searches across five counties, including Chesterfield, using ALPRs from June 2024 to April 2025.
- Richmond and Henrico have a combined 184 Flock cameras, which is among the most in the state, per WHRO.
What we're watching: A new Virginia law, effective July 1, says law enforcement can use ALPR data only for in-state criminal investigations.
- But advocates say it's possible that federal agencies push local police to hand over the data to help with deportations.
Go deeper: