The Mill Creek Police Department (MCPD) acknowledges public concerns regarding the use of Flock Safety (Flock) data by federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies that may not comply with Washington State law.
MCPD has never granted federal agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) direct access to its shared network. The department is committed to ensuring that all use of this technology complies with state law and reflects the values of the City of Mill Creek and our community.
Flock installed automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in Mill Creek on September 29, 2025; however, the system was not validated until October 1, 2025. This means that any data collected before validation would not have been available on the Flock system until October 1. To ensure transparency, MCPD and the City reviewed the data and confirmed that there were no federal agency inquiries during the validation period. Although MCPD created its account with Flock Safety on November 1, 2024, any data inquiries before September 29, 2025, would not have returned results, as no data was captured before that date. Additionally, on October 1, Mill Creek disabled the "National Lookup" option to prevent possible backdoor access via the "National Lookup" option within Flock, which we understand was closed to federal agencies on or before August 25, 2025.
MCPD is developing a public-facing web portal dedicated to the Flock program. Once completed, this portal will provide residents with accessible information about the system's use in Mill Creek.
To learn more about the MCPD or to view their Flock fact sheet, visit millcreekwa.gov/flock.