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Arlington Heights officials say ALPR sharing suspended after out-of-state misuse; board asks for review
Summary
Trustees pressed village staff to confirm whether Arlington Heights license-plate reader data was exposed after an out‑of‑state law‑enforcement agency improperly queried data; Village Manager said data sharing to external agencies has been turned off pending work with Flock to ensure compliance with Illinois law.
Arlington Heights officials said June 16 they have suspended external sharing of automatic license‑plate reader (ALPR) data after reports that data from other Illinois communities was improperly accessed by an out‑of‑state law‑enforcement agency.
Trustee Santa Maria urged the Village Board to confirm whether Arlington Heights data was accessed and to strengthen policies to prevent misuse. "What happened is an egregious violation of public trust and our community deserves answers, transparency and accountability," Trustee Santa Maria said.
Village Manager Reklaas told the board that the incident involved data from a neighboring municipality being queried illegally by an outside agency. He said Illinois law prohibits use of ALPR data for certain purposes, including abortion‑related and immigration investigations, and that the village has disabled the data‑sharing function pending Flock’s review. "We still can use our own data, but we're not allowing other entities to access our data at this time until we are comfortable with the actions that FLOCK is taking to protect everyone's information," Reklaas said.
Trustee Dunnington expressed support for a board review of the audited search logs and for updates to village policies. "I do share in Trustee Santa Maria's outrage ... and I support her request for the board to review the audited data to see what was shared and to review our current policies to ensure that it can never happen again," Dunnington said.
Manager Reklaas said the Illinois Attorney General’s Office has audited the matter in other jurisdictions and that Flock — the ALPR vendor referenced in the discussion — is working to resolve data‑sharing issues. He said there was no indication that Arlington Heights data led to arrests or further inquiries. Reklaas said the village will continue to work with Flock to align data sharing with Illinois law and law‑enforcement best practices.
The board did not take a formal vote on the matter during the meeting but several trustees asked staff to confirm whether village data was accessed and to bring back policy recommendations. Reklaas and other staff indicated they will report further information to the board when available.
The discussion took place during the recognitions and communications portion of the June 16 meeting and during trustee remarks.
