The Savannah Police Department fired officer Amber Harpe in August 2026 after confirming she gave her Flock surveillance system credentials to her husband, Tyler Harpe, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The local police force does not share information collected by this platform with federal immigration authorities and determined that the transfer of access violated the agency's internal security protocols.
During the period he had unauthorized access to the tool, Tyler Harpe performed 983 searches linked to 97 vehicle license plates. According to the local ABC affiliate, WJCL, the plates queried in the database overwhelmingly belonged to drivers identified as Hispanic. The individuals involved maintained in their defense that the checks were not for personal purposes and were conducted strictly for police work.
Scope of tracking and credential violation
The Savannah Police maintains a security protocol prohibiting the sharing of Flock access and does not provide its records to federal immigration authorities.
Despite these restrictions, the federal agent used his spouse's username to verify license plates without municipal oversight. The platform's audit log recorded nearly a thousand direct requests regarding local vehicles. The concentration of these queries on drivers of Hispanic origin revealed a specific pattern in the immigration officer's use of municipal data.
Internal discrepancies in disciplinary action
The resolution of the administrative file caused disagreements among Savannah Police Department leadership regarding the applicable sanction. Interim Major Max Nowinsky initially recommended an eight-hour suspension for the officer.
Major Michelle Halford and Deputy Chief of Police Robert Gavin disagreed with that initial measure and proceeded to remove and permanently expel Harpe from the police force.
Arrests and consequences of the internal investigation
Harpe's firing was part of a broader investigation process within the municipal staff. Internal inquiries uncovered the misuse of Flock, which led to the forced departure of six employees from the Savannah Police Department.
Police authorities subsequently proceeded to arrest four of the six employees involved in these irregularities. Amber Harpe was not among those arrested.
