As ICE Makes Arrests in Redmond, the City Moves To Deactivate Flock Camera System
Redmond City Hall in Redmond, Washington. Jason Miller/Redmond Moments
November 10, 2025
By Madeline Virginia
Last week on November 3, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested three people in Redmond, Washington. That same night, part of a regularly scheduled City Council Business Meeting was dedicated to a discussion about the federal agency’s presence in the city, and included a question-and-answer session with Redmond Police Chief Darrel Lowe.
At the meeting, Chief Lowe confirmed the three arrests and explained the local police department’s involvement. According to the Chief, the Redmond Police Department (RPD) was not informed of ICE’s operations ahead of time. The day of the arrests, Redmond police officers verified the identity of the federal officers, then left the scene in accordance with RPD policy not assist or cooperate in immigration-related enforcement.
City council members took the opportunity to ask questions about the city of Redmond’s system of Flock cameras, a collection of Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) installed earlier this year as part of a police technology package originally approved by the council. A recent study by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights found that in other nearby cities, Flock camera data has been accessed by federal agencies as a tool in immigration enforcement. Chief Lowe explained during the meeting that Redmond’s data had not been accessed by any federal agency, citing the department’s strict privacy settings.
Council members echoed the sentiments of multiple public comments made during the meeting, suggesting that even the strongest settings may not be able to prevent data breaches, or subpoenas from the federal government.
After some discussion with City Attorney Rebecca Mueller, the Council made a formal recommendation to Mayor Angela Birney and Chief Lowe to manually suspend Redmond’s Flock cameras as soon as possible. The Council also stated their intention to make a formal motion to permanently deactivate the system in a City Council Special Meeting on November 12, the soonest official procedure would allow for a vote. In a statement on November 4, RPD confirmed they had suspended the city’s Flock cameras.
RPD also confirmed with Redmond Moments that they were not aware of any other arrests by federal agents in the city last week. People detained by ICE in Washington are transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma, the only immigration detention center in the state. News organizations and activist groups have recently reported over crowding, lack of legal access, and inhumane conditions at the detention center.
Read more about the City of Redmond’s immigration resources here.
