Big safety or big brother? City Council spends big, seeking to answer the question about Flock Safety technology amid concerns | Allentown Area

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – You can find these cameras in multiple spots across the City of Allentown.

Flock Safety Technology can record license plates and locate gunfire, among other abilities. It is one of many companies that provide such services, but Allentown City Council member Jeremy Binder says it found itself at the center of discussions.

“This company has really moved the needle in trying to consolidate data and share that data across multiple different police departments, as well as in private entities,” he said.

As investigations across the country raise some alarms regarding the tech, many question whether their privacy is also safe.

Recently, hackers ripped a Flock camera down from above a roadway and shared the files with journalists, saying the data showed the cameras catch more than just license plates. 

In Allentown, Binder started the push to pay an outside company to independently research the technology.

“I think what you’re starting to see, especially with data,” he said, “is that the more you consolidate it into large databases, it makes it much easier to profile and target individuals.”

Outside of City Council, Binder works in surveillance technology. He recommended the Bethlehem-based company IPVM for the job, hoping the research will point to better usage of the technology and help officials implement guardrails.

“I really want to have that policy drafted so that we can make sure that residents know how many devices we have, what we’re actually recording, and more importantly, who we’re sharing it with,” he said.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday night, City Council authorized 10,000 of its own dollars toward the cause.

Mayor Matt Tuerk insists Allentown is already using the data properly.

“How other departments might access Flock data to accomplish nefarious things is not consistent with what we do here in Allentown,” he said.

“Allentown’s primary focus is making the neighborhoods of the city of Allentown safer for residents so they can thrive and completely fully live the life of a resident,” Tuerk added.

But he also supports the outside research and says he’s been working with Binder on the process.

“You don’t just invest and let it go,” he said. “You need to continually evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of programs.”

Tuerk adds Allentown has seen reductions in violent crime, and he believes it’s in part due to the use of the new technologies used, but says the city will readjust based on what the research finds.

“If through the process of an evaluation and an audit, we learned that data were being used improperly or that officers were improperly exposing our data to some external risk,” he said, “that would certainly affect the way that we engage with the tool.”

One Allentown resident who asked not to be named tells 69 News she wants the cameras gone, not necessarily based on her own experience, but because of what she’s read online about them.

“I feel like they need to get rid of Flock cameras,” she said. “They be stalking people.”

Some locals at the City Council meeting Wednesday night were in support of IPVM researching the technology. 

“It’s a good company,” resident Lewis Arthur Shupe said. “I looked into it myself. I’m a big fan of their work.”

Though he questioned the large amount of money being spent.

“Why waste the $10,000 when the hackers of the world will do it for free?” he said.