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License-plate readers · Philadelphia County

Philadelphia County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Philadelphia Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
NBC10 (Nov. 2025) reported more than 700 readers: about 100 fixed readers that began scanning in fall 2024 and more than 600 in patrol cars from January 2025. PhillyVoice (Sept. 2026) reported 137 fixed readers plus vehicle-mounted units. The department says it does not operate Flock cameras.
Contract
Vendor not named in source: grant-funded network · NBC10 reports more than $5 million in grant money and the Philadelphia Tribune reports $5 million in grants paying for the expanded reader network; neither names the grantors. In 2023 NBC10 said the 200 new readers would come through a state grant of federal money, in partnership with the District Attorney's Office. (NBC10 Philadelphia, Nov. 3, 2025; The Philadelphia Tribune, Aug. 2, 2026; NBC10 Philadelphia, May 11, 2023)
  1. May 2023 NBC10 reported the department was down to one working reader out of 25 that a state task force supplied in 2013; quarterly reports listed about 12 million plates read over two years with zero arrests or recoveries recorded. The department said it expected 200 new readers. (NBC10 Philadelphia, May 11, 2023)
  2. April 2024 Commissioner Kevin Bethel told City Council the department was adding 25 mobile and 200 stationary readers with grant funding, to be placed in high-crime and car-theft areas. (The Philadelphia Inquirer / Government Technology, April 11, 2024)
  3. Sept. 2025 Officers and detectives ran more than 33,000 reader searches in September 2025; the department said it could not tie them to arrests or closed cases and had turned off real-time stolen-car alerts to officers. (NBC10 Philadelphia, Nov. 3, 2025)
  4. Aug. 2026 The department told the Philadelphia Tribune it keeps reader records for one year, does not give reader data feeds to outside parties, and is revising rules on access, auditing and retention; newer installations connect to the Real Time Crime Center and the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center. (The Philadelphia Tribune, Aug. 2, 2026)
  5. Sept. 2026 Police told PhillyVoice they do not own Flock cameras but run other readers, including 137 at fixed locations, plus readers on police vehicles. (PhillyVoice, Sept. 21, 2026; PhillyVoice, Sept. 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Vendor not confirmed in an opened source; the Atlas of Surveillance lists Genetec (lead only).
  • Date for the April 2024 item is the council budget hearing month; the article ran April 11, 2024.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Temple University (campus)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
Temple added Flock cameras in 2024; a spokesperson did not say how many operate.
  1. 2024 Temple University added Flock cameras around its campus. (PhillyVoice, Sept. 21, 2026)
  2. Oct. 2026 Flock cited a Temple University case involving a suspected serial burglar as an example of the cameras' use. (NBC10 Philadelphia, Oct. 5, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Sources say "Temple University"; whether the Temple University Police Department is the account holder was not confirmed.

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)