A federal immigration agent ran nearly 1,000 searches on a local police surveillance network using his wife’s login credentials, leading to her dismissal from the force. Amber Harpe, an officer with the Savannah Police Department in Georgia, was fired in August after an internal investigation revealed that she had given her husband, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Tyler Harpe, unauthorized access to the city’s Flock automated license-plate cameras.
While using his wife's credentials, Tyler Harpe conducted 983 searches covering 97 license plates. According to local television station WJCL, those vehicles were overwhelmingly registered to Hispanic drivers. The Savannah department does not share its Flock data with ICE, and officials confirmed that sharing login access directly violated department security protocols. The couple defended their actions, stating that the system was not used for personal matters and that the queries were performed strictly for law-enforcement purposes.
Department supervisors initially disagreed on how severely to penalize the officer. Interim Major Max Nowinsky initially recommended an eight-hour suspension, but Major Michelle Halford and Assistant Police Chief Robert Gavin pushed for stronger disciplinary action and removed Harpe from the force. Her dismissal was part of a broader investigation into Flock system abuse that resulted in the firing of six department employees, four of whom were later arrested. Harpe was not among those facing criminal charges.