Regulating Flock cameras and other automated license plate reading systems, or ALPRs, has drawn the attention of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.On Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro made his position on this technology clear.
“I would welcome bipartisan legislation to ban these across the state,” Shapiro said in response to a question from The Center Square. “This is not something I support.”
“This is not something in the public interest,” he continued. “I think law enforcement needs to have tools to keep communities safe. Flock cameras are not a tool that I support.”
The issue has drawn interest from both chambers, although there are a variety of proposals on how to address it.
On Thursday, state Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, announced plans to introduce legislation to prohibit the use of Flock Safety cameras and substantially similar networked ALPR systems in the state, citing growing concerns that the technology could become a system of mass surveillance.
“Some of these systems do much more than record what happens in a public place,” Laughlin said. “They automatically identify vehicles, catalog their movements and enter that information into a searchable network. That makes it possible to track and reconstruct where a person has traveled over time, even when that person has done nothing wrong.”
On the same day Laughlin announced his intent to introduce a ban, state Sens. Lisa Boscola and Doug Mastriano sent out co-sponsorship memos about proposals they said would limit their use.
Boscola, a Democrat, said her bill would ban “knowingly accessing or using an automated surveillance system, or information obtained through such a system, for an unauthorized personal or otherwise unlawful purpose.”
“This legislation would focus on the conduct of the individual user, rather than penalizing a law-enforcement agency or other organization for the independent misconduct of an employee or authorized user,” Boscola wrote in the co-sponsorship memo titled ‘Protecting Pennsylvanians from the Misuse of Automated Surveillance Systems.’ “Legitimate access undertaken for criminal investigations, public safety, missing-person cases, court-authorized purposes, or other lawful official duties would not be prohibited.”
“Technology can make law enforcement more effective, but public confidence in these tools depends on ensuring that access carries meaningful responsibility,” she continued.
Mastriano, a Republican, argues that there are “legitimate circumstances in which this technology can assist law enforcement.”
“Police looking for a stolen vehicle, an abducted child, a wanted fugitive, or a vehicle specifically connected to a criminal investigation should be able to use appropriate technology to protect the public,” Mastriano wrote in his co-sponsorship memo. “But that is fundamentally different from continuously photographing and recording the movements of every motorist who happens to drive past a camera. Police should investigate people when there is a legitimate reason to suspect wrongdoing. Government should not surveil everyone in hopes of finding wrongdoing.”
Mastriano’s proposal, he said, would “prohibit the routine, suspicionless collection and retention of motorists’ movements through automated license plate surveillance,” adding that this prohibition would “apply to the technology and activity, not merely to one company or brand.”
“Replacing Flock Safety with another vendor should not allow an agency to circumvent the law,” Mastriano said, pointing out that his legislation provides exceptions for when law enforcement has reasons to use this technology.
Access Harrisburg reported Thursday that at least six bills have been introduced in the state House to limit these systems. Some of these efforts in the lower chamber are bipartisan.
However, there is no unanimous support for a ban. In fact, some supporters of these systems believe that they help solve crimes and can be used as a tool by law enforcement.
Flock Safety issued a 2025 Impact Census earlier this year that they said found that its technology “supported more than 1 million investigations, assisted in solving 20% of cleared cases, helped locate more than 10,000 missing persons, and contributed significantly to stolen vehicle recoveries across the country.”
Last year, a proposal was introduced with the support of seven Republican senators, which they said would use this technology “on state-owned infrastructure across the Commonwealth for law enforcement purposes.”
“ALPRs are among the most effective tools available to law enforcement today. These systems capture computer-readable images of license plates and vehicles, allowing police officers to compare plate numbers against databases of stolen vehicles, wanted individuals, and other serious crimes,” the co-sponsorship memo reads for Senate Bill 933.
This proposal argues that “PennDOT’s refusal to permit the installation of ALPR systems in the rights-of-way of state-owned roads has left parts of our Commonwealth vulnerable to criminal activity, depriving law enforcement of crucial tools for crime prevention and investigation.”
On Friday, Shapiro reiterated that the Pennsylvania State Police does not use Flock cameras.
“We do not allow flock cameras to be on any state property, and the PennDOT, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, does not use them and does not allow it on their roadways,” Shapiro said. “Period.”
On Friday, Shapiro also touted the increased investment his administration has made in law enforcement, which he believes is leading to a decrease in violent crime, firearm assault, and homicides statewide.
While the issue is increasingly on the minds of lawmakers in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the debate is also taking place outside of the commonwealth.
Sixteen states have laws that “expressly address” the use of the cameras, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters this week that these cameras were “out of control.”
And at the local level, the matter has even come up in Shapiro’s hometown.
On Thursday, the Abington Township Board of Commissioners in Montgomery County voted on a contract to replace the police department’s Flock Safety surveillance system, 6ABC reports, adding that the local police department says the “new system will put more limits on data sharing.”
Read Full Article: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/shapiro-backs-flock-camera-ban?utm_source=justthenews.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=external-news-aggregators
