ICE Agent Ran 983 Secret License Plate Searches on Mostly Hispanic Drivers Using Police Officer Wife's Login

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent conducted 983 licence plate searches using his police officer wife's login to access a surveillance system that her department does not share with federal immigration authorities, according to records obtained by WJCL.

The searches took place between January and July 2026 and involved 97 identifiable number plates across six US states. Investigators found that most registered owners of the vehicles searched were Hispanic, while 788 searches involved vehicles registered in South Carolina, WJCL reported.

Amber Harpe, a former Savannah Police Department officer in Georgia, was dismissed after an internal investigation found that she had shared her Flock Safety login details with her husband, Tyler Harpe, an ICE agent. She was one of six department employees dismissed over misuse of the surveillance system. Four others were subsequently arrested and charged, but Amber was not criminally charged.

ICE Agent Used Wife's Flock Login

Records and interview recordings obtained by WJCL showed that Tyler did not have his own access to Savannah's Flock network. Amber acknowledged giving him her username and password, allowing him to search the system through her account.

'Every name that I ever ran was an ICE target,' Tyler told investigators. He said the searches helped agents locate people who had already been identified as targets and had outstanding arrest warrants. Both he and Amber maintained that the activity was connected to law enforcement and was not for personal use.

The Savannah Police Department shares Flock data with more than 1,700 law enforcement agencies, but ICE is not among them. During her interview, Amber told investigators that other agencies were reluctant to work with federal immigration authorities.

A department spokesperson said unauthorised access to police technology breached departmental policy and public trust. The spokesperson added that an outside agency's investigative purpose did not, by itself, grant permission to use the system.

Audit Exposed Wider Misuse

The investigation began after an internal audit flagged an unusually high volume of searches through Amber's account. The wider inquiry led to six employees being dismissed over improper use of Flock data, including searches involving personal acquaintances and family members, as well as access provided to an outside agency.

Four employees were subsequently arrested and charged by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Amber was not among them.

The department said system audits, including Flock Safety's Audit Assist programme, helped identify potentially unauthorised activity. Records showed which account had been used, when a search took place and the reason recorded for it.

Following the investigation, Savannah police introduced weekly audits through the Office of Professional Standards to identify irregular activity and strengthen oversight of surveillance data.

WJCL reported that an interim major initially recommended an eight-hour suspension for Amber. Senior department officials instead recommended dismissal, and she was fired in August. She later withdrew her appeal against the termination.

ICE Confirms Investigation

ICE confirmed to WTOC that it was investigating the matter because of its agent's involvement. The department said its safeguards include role-based access controls, staff training, electronic audit logs and supervisory oversight.

Although the searches were described by the couple as legitimate law enforcement activity, Savannah Police maintained that the purpose of an investigation did not authorise an outside agency to bypass its access rules.