SHELTON, Wash. — An audit of Shelton’s automated license plate reader network identified 943 searches by outside agencies with strong connections to immigration enforcement, all made while the city’s system still allowed nationwide data sharing. The Shelton Police Department said it examined about 2.67 million network audit entries dated from April 2025 through July 28, 2026. The 943 searches included reasons referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deportation, immigration enforcement, Border Patrol or human smuggling. Police said none was attributed to Shelton officers. The department also found 1,952 entries that referenced Homeland Security Investigations or an immigration-enforcement agency. It said those records did not establish whether the searches concerned immigration enforcement or another federal investigation. All 943 entries classified as strongly immigration-related fell between April and October 2025. Shelton ended access for out-of-state agencies in fall 2025, limiting the system to authorized Washington law enforcement agencies and approved purposes. Police cautioned that a search record does not establish that a Shelton camera captured the vehicle sought, that the system returned data to the outside agency or that anyone viewed an image from a Shelton camera. The department also found searches with vague or insufficient reasons, testing and training searches, and a smaller number containing references to protests, politics, abortion or other sensitive subjects. A separate review of 74,697 entries from Jan. 1 through July 28, 2026, found no immigration-related entries and no access by agencies outside Washington, according to the department. That review did identify 193 testing, training or demonstration entries and 16 searches with vague or generic reasons, including three with no reason entered. Police said those records do not by themselves prove misconduct but remain subject to administrative oversight. Under current department rules, Flock license plate reader data may not be used for federal immigration enforcement or to monitor constitutionally protected activity, protected health care activity, immigration status or other prohibited purposes. Routine data is automatically deleted after 21 days unless preserved as evidence or under another authorized legal exception. The findings document searches made under the former sharing settings, but the audit’s limitations mean they do not establish whether any person or vehicle in Shelton was identified or affected by those searches.