Flock cameras are not speed cameras. They are a fundamentally different kind of technology and we need government to treat them that way.
I support making Philadelphia’s streets safer. That is why I support Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE).
ASE is not only saving lives but it is also making it safer for pedestrians, for cyclists and for public transit riders. It can be nerve wrecking when you’re waiting for the bus and a car zooms by at 60mph. This isn’t hypothetical. The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) issued a report about speed cameras on Broad St going live from September 2025 through March 2026. On Hunting Park and Broad, the median highest speed captured was nearly 63mph (the full report can be found here). It is unlikely anyone will survive being hit at that speed considering only one person out of 10 survives being hit at 40mph.
At the Bicycle Coalition, we have programming at Hunting Park where we show children how to ride a bike at Little Safety Village. Earlier this year in May, after our Hunting Park Hustle event, one of our youth participants was hit by a car while riding his bike home from the event. Thankfully he is okay, but the reality is traffic violence hits too close to home. For these reasons, we at BCGP and Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia support ASE and are advocating for pedestrian safety improvement every day.
Advocates, friends and families of victims of traffic violence at Route 13 Advocacy Walk
ASE: Saving One Life a month and Reducing Speeding and Crashes
Philadelphia’s speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard have produced measurable safety results. Since their installation, speeding violations have fallen by 95%, fatal and serious-injury crashes have fallen by 21%, and crashes involving people walking have fallen by 50%. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that the cameras have saved just under one life per month. We go more in depth on ASE on our blog published in early September.
These are cameras designed around a specific public-safety problem: dangerous speeding. Flock cameras are different, they’re a violation of our privacy and arguably of the fourth amendment of the constitution.
FLOCK CAMERAS CAN RECORD EVERY CAR THAT PASSES
Flock and other automated license plate readers (ALPRs) can record vehicles that come into view and catalog information including the vehicle’s make, model, color, and license plate number.
The ACLU reports that Flock has 120,000 cameras installed across urban and rural areas, including highways, neighborhoods and outside local businesses.
Pennsylvania is already part of this growing network. There are approximately 3,634 Flock and ALPR cameras reported across Pennsylvania, according to a community-mapped database.
NBC10 Philadelphia reported that there are more than 300 Flock and other ALPR cameras within 10 miles of Center City Philadelphia, according to FlockCameraLocations.com.
That is a very different scale and purpose from a speed camera. You can simply be driving down the street.
LESS THAN 1% OF SCANNED CARS ARE CONNECTED TO CRIME
The ACLU reports that less than 1% of cars scanned by ALPRs are connected to any crime or wrongdoing.
The overwhelming majority of people being scanned are ordinary people going about their lives.
As the ACLU explains, this technology can reveal where someone goes, who they visit, what doctors they see, what houses of worship they attend, and even what political meetings or protests they attend. That is not traffic enforcement. That is surveillance.
THE TECHNOLOGY CAN OFTEN BE WRONG
The ACLU reports that 1 in 10 license plates scanned by Flock license plate readers misread the state.
A camera-generated record should not automatically be treated as fact. There are numerous incidents where people were wrongfully stopped and detained. In one case earlier this year, a family with a one month old was held at and guns were drawn and were released after they realized the APLR got the last letter of the license plate wrong. Here is the video. Viewer Discretion.
FLOCK CAMERAS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON STATE ROADS, BUT THEY ARE ON LOCAL ROADS
The Commonwealth does not allow Flock cameras on state property or PennDOT roadways. Governor Josh Shapiro has said that the state does not allow Flock cameras on Commonwealth property and has welcomed bipartisan legislation to address the technology statewide.
But Flock cameras are operating on local roads. Philadelphia City Council has now passed a resolution calling on the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Senate to either ban Flock-like ALPR cameras statewide or establish strong guardrails for their use. We are encouraged by proposals like those introduced by Rep Khan which aims to reign in the lack of APLR safety provisions.
REDUCING FINES WILL COST LIVES, ESPECIALLY IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
Traffic violence doesn’t hit every Philadelphian equally. According to the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan 2030, Black and Hispanic residents and people in high-poverty ZIP codes are 2.4 times more likely to be hurt in crashes than those in affluent neighborhoods. National research tells the same story (Roll, 2022): pedestrian injuries are rising as a share of all traffic injuries, and BIPOC and lower-income people carry a disproportionate share of that burden. For this reason, BCGP and other advocates oppose an ordinance that seeks to reduce speed fines in half. Thank you to our fellow bike advocates who uplifted this statistic in a letter we wrote to Philadelphia city council opposing this proposed ordinance.
Additionally, immigrants and other heavily policed communities face a double burden. They’re more likely to walk, bike and ride transit on our most dangerous streets, and they also have the most to lose from unwarranted traffic stops. That’s why automated speed enforcement matters. It isn’t surveillance like Flock cameras, which track every car’s movements and share that data widely. ASE only captures a vehicle when it’s speeding and issues a civil fine by mail, with no police stop. Weakening the fines that removes one of the few tools that makes streets safer without putting our most vulnerable neighbors at greater risk.
Speed Cameras are not Flock Cameras
Automated Speed Enforcement results in increased pedestrian safety.
On Roosevelt Boulevard we’ve seen the effectiveness of these cameras
- 95% fewer speeding violations.
- 21% fewer fatal and serious-injury crashes.
- 50% fewer crashes involving people walking.
- One life saved per month.
ASE cameras are designed to identify a specific traffic violation. Philadelphia’s speed-camera system is also governed by specific legal restrictions: the cameras are not continuously recording, and the images are limited to determining speeding violations and they are only accessible to other law enforcement agencies other than the Philadelphia Police Department if there is a criminal warrant or subpoena and the request must be specific to an individual being sought.
Flock cameras are fundamentally different. They can capture vehicles simply because they pass through one of the flock cameras’ view; they can record identifying information about those vehicles that becomes part of a larger searchable network.
PHILADELPHIA SHOULD LEAD ON SAFETY NOT ON SURVEILLANCE
Philadelphia has shown that we can use evidence to make our streets safer. The success of Automated Speed Enforcement gives us a model: identify a specific safety problem, use a tailored intervention, and reinvest in safer streets.
Flock is a a network capable of recording the movements of ordinary people including people who have done nothing wrong.
I don’t believe we have to choose between safe streets and civil liberties. We can have both.
We should not be okay with normalizing mass surveillance through ALPR especially when less than 1% of scanned vehicles are connected to crime or wrongdoing.
We should continue supporting proven, life-saving interventions like Automated Speed Enforcement. Safe streets should not require a record of where everyone goes.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia leads the movement to make every bicycle ride safe, to empower youth and adults to ride, and to foster a ridership that reflects the diversity of the region. Join or renew to continue that advocacy and education work throughout the region. More info here.