Lucy Parsons Labs

We’ve uploaded footage of our event with ACPC and LPL talking about the fight to get these records released. The full behind-the-scene story can be found here 👉🏽 youtu.be/Te0XOiWGcg8?...

After @atlpresscollective.com sued with LPL for these records against the Atlanta Police Foundation, the UGA First Amendment clinic shut down all of its work on open records act. bsky.app/profile/atlp...

FOLKS! We updated the link for the stream here

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In 2024, ACPC filed a lawsuit to get open records from the Atlanta Police Foundation.

Here are the documents we fought for.

YouTube video by Lucy Parsons Labs Challenging the Atlanta Police Foundation's Secrecy.

Our livestream with @atlpresscollective.com can be found on our channel youtu.be/xRA0vTYERgY

NEW documents obtained by @atlpresscollective.com reveal how the Atlanta Police Foundation attempted to sideline the #CopCity referendum. They call the move "undemocratic" -> linktr.ee/lucyparsonsl...

We've had a few questions about our event with @atlpresscollective.com. So just a reminder, the livestream will be YouTube and Twitch and the links are pinned to the top here ===>>> linktr.ee/lucyparsonsl... <<<===

We've had a few questions about our event with @atlpresscollective.com. So just a reminder, the livestream will be YouTube and Twitch and the links are pinned to the top here ===>>> linktr.ee/lucyparsonsl... <<<===

A flyer that reads "Uprooting Cop City" a live show on organizing against police secrecy in Atlanta. July 16th at 6:30ET.

3 photos of the panelists, "Matt Scott" a plaintiff in the case, Alejandro Ruizesparza, another plaintiff in the case and Samantha Hamilton, our attorney representing us.

REMINDER EVENT: TODAY JULY 16TH we will have a live show on organizing against police secrecy in Atlanta with
@atlpresscollective.com
. It will also be on Twitch and YouTube, scan the QR code for the links. July 16th @ 6:30 ET.

A flyer that reads "Uprooting Cop City" a live show on organizing against police secrecy in Atlanta. July 16th at 6:30ET.

3 photos of the panelists, "Matt Scott" a plaintiff in the case, Alejandro Ruizesparza, another plaintiff in the case and Samantha Hamilton, our attorney representing us.

REMINDER EVENT: TODAY JULY 16TH we will have a live show on organizing against police secrecy in Atlanta with
@atlpresscollective.com
. It will also be on Twitch and YouTube, scan the QR code for the links. July 16th @ 6:30 ET.

I'm glad police are getting the tools they need to solve the most serious crimes

A flyer that reads "Uprooting Cop City" a live show on organizing against police secrecy in Atlanta. July 16th at 6:30ET.

3 photos of the panelists, "Matt Scott" a plaintiff in the case, Alejandro Ruizesparza, another plaintiff in the case and Samantha Hamilton, our attorney representing us.

EVENT: Next week we will have a live show on organizing against police secrecy in Atlanta with @atlpresscollective.com. It will also be on Twitch and YouTube, scan the QR code for the links. July 16th @ 6:30 ET.

July 8, 2025 ATF Access to RPD License Plate Readers Terminated In June, administrators of the Richmond Police Department’s license plate reader program learned an analyst with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had been granted access to the RPD system and had made queries for immigration enforcement in violation of RPD’s operational standards. The ATF analyst’s access was immediately terminated and, moving forward, no federal agencies will have access to RPD’s license plate reader program. “ATF is a valued partner in our efforts to combat violent crime in Richmond. But their analyst should not have been granted access to our system — and absolutely should not have used it for immigration enforcement purposes,” said RPD Chief Rick Edwards. “I’ve been clear with the public, with city leadership, and within this department: the Richmond Police Department does not enforce federal immigration law, and we do not investigate a person’s immigration status. If ATF had formally requested access for that purpose, I would have denied it.”

Facts and details:  The ATF analyst requested access to the RPD license plate reader program on February 7, 2025, to “assist our agents and TFOs [Task Force Officers] with investigations in and around Richmond.”  At that time of their request, the ATF was not actively involved with immigration enforcement.  The RPD administrator of the program granted access to the ATF analyst.  The RPD administrator of the program has since separated from the department.  In March 2025, the mission of the ATF changed to include immigration enforcement.  In early March, four detainees from an ICE detention facility in Farmville, Virginia escaped. In the effort to assist the investigation, the ATF analyst made numerous inquiries to RPD’s license plate reader program in an effort to apprehend the escapees.

Overall, the ATF analyst queried 49 unique license plates receiving over 400 results to those inquiries.  Over a quarter of the results received related to the incident in Farmville.   The cases involved in the ATF analyst’s queries were a mixture of a) cases that the ATF traditionally investigates with RPD and other partners, e.g. firearms offenses and/or violent crime, regardless of a subject’s immigration status (35 of the 49 unique license plates) and b) cases that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) pursues regarding immigration enforcement (14 of the 49 unique license plates).  According to the ATF, all of those cases in the second group involved individuals that had committed a crime or had a criminal background.  The analyst did not include the name of the state for a license plate query which produced a result from a different state for the same license plate numbers and letters. According to the ATF, all queries made using the system were for investigations in the state of Virginia. Pursuant to the new Virginia law taking effect on July 1, 2025, other states no longer have connections to Virginia license plate information.  On June 11, the new RPD administrator received an alert from Flock Safety, the vendor of the license plate readers, that two searches from the ATF analyst inadvertently accessed Illinois vehicle data with “ICE” in the query field which is a violation of Illinois law.  Within five minutes of the new RPD administrator recognizing the ATF analyst had access to the RPD system and was using it in violation to RPD guidelines, the administrator terminated the ATF analyst’s access to the system.  An immediate audit was conducted to ensure no other federal partner or other user outside of RPD personnel had access to the license plate reader program. No other user was found to have access.  The new administrator began an internal investigation on how and when access was granted to the ATF analyst by the previous, departed manager.  Last…

“We value our partnership with the Richmond Police Department and regret that this situation occurred,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood. “Our ATF analyst accessed RPD’s system in support of ATF’s overall mission and although all the queries involved criminal activity, they were not in compliance with RPD’s guidelines. While our investigative analysts support both criminal and immigration-related efforts, the majority of these searches were directly tied to local investigations involving gun trafficking, violent offenders, and fraudulent firearms purchases. In one instance, a potential residency violation may have prompted the use of ‘ICE’ in a search field — but all queries were related to criminal activity, not civil immigration enforcement.” “It is frustrating this occurred. However, I appreciate ATF’s willingness to acknowledge what happened and clarify the nature of the searches,” said Chief Edwards. “We remain committed to working with our federal partners on the investigation and prosecution of violent crime. But moving forward, no federal agencies will have access to our license plate reader program. This tool is vital to solving serious crimes in our city, and we will ensure it is used lawfully, responsibly, and in alignment with Richmond’s values.”

NEW: Approximately 1hr after I submitted an inquiry to Richmond Police Department asking if the city's Flock Safety ALPR data had been shared with/accessed by feds, a spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging an ATF "analyst" in June "had made queries for immigration enforcement." Full release:

Top Atlanta cop consulted for tech firm providing surveillance software to city Marshall Freeman promoted software and owned stake in company while working for police, violating disclosure laws, says ethics office

Marshall Freeman was meeting with investment companies at steakhouses and over lobster dinners and pitching them on how Atlanta was using Fusus. Can't make this up. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Top Atlanta cop consulted for tech firm providing surveillance software to city Marshall Freeman promoted software and owned stake in company while working for police, violating disclosure laws, says ethics office

Today in *corruption*: a top Atlanta Police Foundation official went on to work for both the Atlanta Police Department and Fusus, a surveillance vendor and lobbied for the company while drawing salaries from both. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Update: Alder @leniann.bsky.social has joined alders Vasquez, La Spata, Fuentes, and Sigcho-Lopez by removing her name from the ordinance to require all licensed businesses in Chicago to install surveillance cameras.

24 sponsors remain.

Keep the pressure on folks.

Folks, the political pressure is working….It’s important to reject surveillance fatalism and instead turn the screws on the city council.

Any business has the option to install cameras already. What happens when it’s ICE, instead of CPD, who subpoenas footage?

a wild statement! we know that surveillance is sold to us as the solution for safety but it isnt! the unintended consequences are much more grave than the perceived value!

Made with Ditherboy! The app created by Studio AAA

In surveillance news, the city of Chicago has this wild proposal that would require every licensed business to *buy and install* surveillance cameras and turn over that data to CPD without a warrant. LPL has more here bsky.app/profile/lucy...

Try this link and let us know! chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/Matter/?matt...

State surveillance does not keep us safe; it instead creates new dangers. Alders, our supposed “representatives,” must stop focusing on useless tools and emphasize direct resourcing that will ease the lives of the people in their wards for the long-term. (5)

CPD will arrest more people who are likely struggling to make ends meet, track and arrest protestors, and arrest young Black and brown teenagers who are enjoying downtown, enjoying our home. And they will track thousands more, as these dragnets often do. (4)

Our people can’t afford food, can’t get proper school funding, and can’t afford housing, with costs growing as this nation-state flirts with another senseless war. This is not the time to expand police power and the surveillance state, in fact that time never existed and never will. (3)

Despite another effort in targeting Black and brown teens with snap curfews, cops displacing our unhoused neighbors under near-record temps, and the violent repression of actions against fascist growth, Chicago alders decided accelerating a surveillance apparatus was the best use of time. (2)

The ordinance also requires these cameras be pointed at the entrance and nearest public right of way, with video data kept and available to law enforcement for at least 7 days. (1)