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License-plate readers · Erie County

Erie County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Millcreek Township Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
5
Erie Reader counts five Flock cameras on the Millcreek Mall complex, owned by Cafaro. The township says the cameras are privately owned and that police have access to the data under an agreement. YourErie says there are cameras at other private properties too, without a count.
Contract
Flock Safety: $3,250 one-time payment by Cafaro toward installation · approved by Millcreek Township Board of Supervisors Nov. 2025 · License agreement with mall owner Cafaro; it was in the Nov. 11, 2025 supervisors' agenda packet. Erie Reader says the township installs the cameras at its own cost, but the township says it paid no installation or subscription fees. (Erie Reader, April 20, 2026; WJET/WFXP (YourErie), Feb. 9, 2026)
  1. Feb. 9, 2026 The township said Millcreek police can use data from the privately owned Flock cameras at Millcreek Mall for criminal investigations, and that access "is limited to authorized law enforcement personnel." (Erie News Now, Feb. 9, 2026; WJET/WFXP (YourErie), Feb. 9, 2026)
  2. April 20, 2026 Erie Reader reported that a records request for camera cost documents was denied because the township said it had paid nothing. Supervisor Kim Clear said the contract language would be revisited. (Erie Reader, April 20, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Coverage conflicts on who paid to install the cameras.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Erie Bureau of Police

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
In 2018 there was one reader, mounted on a single patrol vehicle.
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $20,000 one-time (equipment, software, storage) · from Oct. 2018 · approved by Pennsylvania Auto Theft Prevention Authority grant (WJET (YourErie), Nov. 28, 2018)
  1. Nov. 2018 Erie police said their one vehicle-mounted reader, installed in October 2018, was scanning about 6,000 plates a day and had led to 12 arrests and to three stolen vehicles and a stolen plate. (WJET (YourErie), Nov. 28, 2018)
Conflicts and open questions
  • We found no current reporting on this reader.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. Feb. 2016 PennDOT demonstrated plate-reader equipment for legislators in Harrisburg. Secretary Leslie Richards said one patrol-car unit can check 3,100 plates a day, and PennDOT said it hoped to use savings from ending registration stickers for a grant program to help police buy readers. (CBS Philadelphia, Feb. 11, 2016)
  2. Aug. 13, 2019 State Police officials testified before the House Transportation Committee that they backed HB 317, a proposed plate-reader law, but raised concerns about funding and about local departments' existing equipment. The bill would have set data collection and retention rules, barred use for passive surveillance, kept reader data out of the Right-to-Know Law and created an equipment fund paid for by a traffic-violation surcharge. State Police called the readers a "force multiplier for law enforcement" and said existing systems were "siloed." (Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Aug. 13, 2019)
  3. Nov. 2, 2022 PennDOT issued Strike-off Letter 494-22-09: plate readers may not be attached to PennDOT structures, new structures may not be built for them, they may go on existing non-PennDOT structures with the structure owner's approval, and PennDOT will not fund them because it does not treat them as transportation infrastructure. (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Nov. 2, 2022)
  4. Sept. 29, 2023 In Commonwealth v. Watkins, a Bucks County case, the state Superior Court held in a published opinion that police use of plate-reader data to find a vehicle on public roads was not a Fourth Amendment search, and upheld denial of suppression. One judge dissented. (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Sept. 29, 2023)
  5. Aug. 2026 In August, several lawmakers circulated plate-reader proposals: Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) to restrict use to listed purposes such as stolen vehicles, missing persons and warrants; Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton) to penalize unauthorized personal use; Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) to bar networked systems that log every passing vehicle; and Rep. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia) to let people sue and let the attorney general and district attorneys bring civil actions. Rep. Nathan Davidson (D-Dauphin) had introduced a bill in 2025 to bar sharing reader data to enforce laws restricting health care such as abortion. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Aug. 31, 2026; Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Sept. 28, 2026; City & State Pennsylvania, July 24, 2026)
  6. Aug. 2026 At a Franklin County news conference in late August, Gov. Josh Shapiro said "Flock cameras are not a tool that I support" and that he would welcome bipartisan legislation to ban them; his office said in early September that he was open to a ban and working with lawmakers. The governor's office said the State Police and PennDOT do not own Flock cameras and will not allow them on state property. (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 2, 2026)
  7. Sept. 2026 The Department of General Services said it was removing Flock from the COSTARS cooperative purchasing program, which Flock joined in 2025, and reviewing other plate-reader products sold through it. DGS said one municipality had bought Flock through COSTARS. (Spotlight PA, Sept. 9, 2026)
  8. Sept. 2026 State Police told PhillyVoice they do not own Flock cameras or share data with the company; they did not say whether they use another plate-reader brand. (PhillyVoice, Sept. 21, 2026)
  9. Sept. 1, 2026 Sens. Nick Pisciottano (D-Allegheny) and Patty Kim (D-Dauphin) announced a planned Senate bill, a companion to Rep. Khan's House bill, requiring documented reasons for searches, audit trails and retention standards, with civil penalties and enforcement by the attorney general and district attorneys. (Pennsylvania Senate Democrats, Sept. 1, 2026)
  10. Sept. 24, 2026 Philadelphia City Council unanimously adopted a resolution introduced by Councilmember Rue Landau asking state legislators to ban plate-reader cameras such as Flock or set strong guardrails for them. (City & State Pennsylvania, Sept. 24, 2026; PhillyVoice, Sept. 24, 2026)
  11. Sept. 28, 2026 The House Transportation and Judiciary committees held a joint hearing on plate readers, with testimony from the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association (which favors regulation over a ban), Flock Safety, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Institute for Justice, the Women's Law Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Sept. 28, 2026)
  12. Sept. 28, 2026 Coverage of the House hearing noted that plate readers allowed the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to eliminate toll booths; no details on its retention or sharing were found. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Sept. 28, 2026)
  13. Oct. 19, 2026 The House passed HB 2771, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer O'Mara (D-Delaware), 190-13, sending it to the Senate. It would limit plate readers to listed purposes such as felony and homicide warrants and investigations, stolen vehicles and missing persons; bar personal and political use and frontal or occupant imaging; generally require deletion within 72 hours; keep reader data out of Right-to-Know requests; bar transfer of data to a foreign adversary; let people sue and the attorney general bring court actions; require training approved by the State Police and the municipal police training commission; and let municipalities adopt stricter rules. (City & State Pennsylvania, Oct. 19, 2026; The Center Square (via Newsline Local), Oct. 19, 2026; CNHI (New Castle News), Oct. 20, 2026)