The Morning Call has partnered with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in a legal case seeking the release of Allentown’s Flock Safety license plate reader data.
The news organization in April filed a Right to Know request with the city seeking “all aggregated data showing the Allentown Police Department’s searches on its Flock Safety License Plate Reader systems, including the dates and reasons for the search.”
The city denied the request, claiming that the data contains confidential criminal investigative information that is exempt from public records requests. The Lehigh County district attorney’s office’s appeals officer upheld the denial.
Allentown has 67 Flock Safety automatic license plate readers, installed in 2024, that capture information about passing vehicles. Police are then alerted when a stolen or wanted vehicle is spotted.
The Morning Call is seeking all available search data on the license-plate reader system, including dates and the reason logged for the search, but excluding any personally identifiable information.
The Reporters Committee’s Pennsylvania attorney, Paula Knudsen Burke, and attorney Jim Davy of All Rise Trial & Appellate filed an appeal of the DA’s office’s denial this week on behalf of the news organization.
In the filings, Burke and Davy argue that the city failed to prove that the requested records contain investigative information. The state’s Right-to-Know Law makes clear that the exemption for investigative information doesn’t apply to aggregated data, Burke and Davy argue. They are asking the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas to order the release of the data.
“The City cannot evade its obligation to provide access to audit records of local law enforcement’s usage of a private surveillance company merely because the records have some connection with law enforcement,” the appeal argues.
Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judge J. Brian Johnson has been assigned to the case.
Morning Call Editor John Misinco said the release of the records is in the public interest.
“The public deserves to have a better understanding of how this new and rapidly evolving technology, which has raised privacy concerns, is being used locally,” he said. “Getting access to the records we are seeking should help provide a clearer picture.”
Allentown police Chief Charles Roca has called the Flock Safety devices, including license plate readers and automatic gunshot detection devices, a “game changer” for public safety investigations, and said that findings from the technology now factor into practically all major crime investigations in the city.
According to Atlanta-based Flock Safety, data is stored on the network for 30 days and police officers must log a reason when they search the database.
Flock critics have raised privacy and safety concerns about these cameras, which are located throughout Allentown, according to a crowd-sourced map of the cameras compiled by DeFlock, a volunteer organization that opposes the proliferation of these cameras.
The American Civil Liberties Union is a prominent critic of Flock Safety. Officials with that organization have said the technology could create a “nationwide mass-surveillance system” by making collected data searchable to all Flock customers.
National news reports have also documented police misuse of the search system, including logging vague reasons for searches or, in some cases, using the system to stalk civilians.
Data collected on Flock Safety devices is available on an encrypted cloud system that is searchable to law enforcement. In addition to police departments, private businesses and homeowners associations can also buy and use Flock Safety devices to monitor their areas.
According to the terms of Allentown’s contract with Flock Safety, which is available in full on the city’s website, there is a four-year initial period and two-year “renewal” period if the city opts in, which means discussions on renewing the contract could begin next year.
The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press is also representing The Morning Call, along with Lehigh Valley Live and Lehigh Valley News, in seeking the unsealing of records related to drug-related charges filed in August against Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi. That case is pending appeal.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.