An investigative record
When your city’s police data leaves the city, it doesn’t come back alone.
More than 2,100 U.S. law enforcement agencies set up a system to automatically upload police records to a private data broker every fifteen minutes. The records include 911 caller information, victim data, and witness statements. Federal agencies — including ICE — pay for access. Local sanctuary laws are circumvented, and crime victims’ information is shared with federal agencies, a private data broker, and hundreds of thousands of LexisNexis users across the country.
- Agencies documented
- 6
- U.S. states confirmed
- 3
- Population covered
- 6.5M
- Refresh interval
- 15 min
published with full sourcing
conservative estimate
to LexisNexis servers
01 / The pipeline
From a 911 call to a federal database.
Five stages. Most cities don't know stages two through five are happening.
02 / Geography
Where the contributors are.
A tile-style map of contributing and likely-contributing agencies by state. Counts include Confirmed Contributors and Strong Signals only — Suspected agencies are excluded from this view.
Top states
- 01CO0
- 02CA0
- 03VA1
3 states · 6 agencies
03 / What it means
Three scenarios.
Hypothetical-but-grounded vignettes built from documented contract terms and policy gaps. Read the one that fits your situation.
Scenario 01
You witnessed a crime and called 911.
You gave your name and address to the dispatcher. Here's where that information goes next.
Read scenario →
Scenario 02
Your city is a sanctuary jurisdiction.
Your local sanctuary law says police won't share data with ICE. The contract on your council's desk goes around it.
Read scenario →
Scenario 03
You're leaving a domestic violence situation.
You filed a police report. Your address — your new one — is now in records you don't control.
Read scenario →
04 / Documented agencies
A selection of records.
Every agency below has a verified contract or FOIA-confirmed contribution. The full directory is searchable by name, state, and confirmation status.
Arlington County Police Department
VA
Buena Park Police Department
CA
Colorado Division of Gaming
CO
La Habra Police Department
CA
Douglas County Sheriff's Office
CO
Fraser-Winter Park Police Department
CO
Reader invitation
This investigation grows with its readers.
If you work at, contract with, or have FOIA’d a law enforcement agency, you may be able to confirm or expand a record here. If your local police department appears on this site, the action page has templates for asking your council, your representative, or LexisNexis itself the right questions.
Documents and tips welcome.