Twenty-five million. That\u2019s the number of license plates scanned so far by Philadelphia\u2019s expanding network of automated license plate readers (ALPR) after about 100 fixed cameras started operating in fall 2024.<\/p>\n
By January, the city has quickly expanded the program, using $5 million in grants to add over 700 automated license plate readers to police vehicles and poles throughout the city. Each day, these cameras record passing license plates, log where and when vehicles travel and check that information against lists of stolen vehicles and other police alerts.<\/p>\n
The city and the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) announced this week they are adding speed cameras along Route 13 in West Philadelphia. Officials said the cameras have already been installed and are expected to begin a 60-day warning period sometime in mid-August.<\/p>\n
Automated speed cameras are already operating on Roosevelt Boulevard, Broad Street and Frankford Avenue.<\/p>\n
The city released the following statement on the new cameras:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City is committed to making our streets safer for everyone, and speeding is the most common cause of traffic fatalities: speeding kills. The Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program is targeted and data-driven. Speed cameras are not placed arbitrarily and are not meant to punish people: they are meant to enforce the rules of the road and decrease injuries and deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even with this rapid growth, the Philadelphia Police Department said it does not have departmentwide, \u201cvalidated\u201d statistics on how often the technology has led directly to arrests, the recovery of stolen vehicles, the discovery of missing people or the solution of violent crimes.<\/p>\n
In a written statement to The Tribune, the police department acknowledged: \u201cThe Department continues to expand the use of automated license plate readers as an investigative and public safety tool. At this time, we do not have department-wide, validated statistics ready for public release.\u201d<\/p>\n
This means taxpayers and city officials lack access to citywide performance data for one of Philadelphia\u2019s biggest and fastest-growing surveillance tools, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The American Civil Liberties Union says automated license plate readers collect information about millions of motorists who are not suspected of crimes. \u2014 SUBMITTED PHOTO<\/p>\n
Accountability<\/p>\n
As the system expands, one question keeps coming up: How often does it actually work?<\/p>\n
The department has not shared verified numbers on how many arrests resulted directly from ALPR alerts, how many stolen vehicles were found using the technology, how often outdated license plate data helped solve violent crimes, the system\u2019s hit and false-alert rates, or how often investigators used ALPR data to move cases forward.<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office did not respond to comment requests.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re able to track people, you know, real time, not saying, \u2018Oh, this person\u2019s right here at this minute.\u2019 It\u2019s saying OK, they tend to drive on this street around 2 o\u2019clock every day. That\u2019s not cool; it\u2019s an invasion of privacy,\u201d said Alex Durret, who lives off Cecil B. Moore Avenue near Temple University, another site of an ALPR.<\/p>\n
A national divide<\/p>\n
Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based public-safety technology company that builds connected cameras, audio and investigative systems, says its technology is used by over 5,000 law enforcement agencies and 6,000 communities across the country.<\/p>\n
Maps from DeFlock, an independent transparency project, show just how widely this technology has spread across Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The project shows that there are many readers in Center City, University City, North, South and Northeast Philadelphia, especially near City Hall, Interstate 95, Roosevelt Boulevard, the Sports Complex, major hospitals, 30th Street Station and other busy travel areas.<\/p>\n
The company estimates its cameras help solve over 700,000 crimes each year, which is about 10% of reported crimes in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Flock disagrees with claims that its cameras constantly track people in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a common misconception that Flock tracks you wherever you go \u2014 and that\u2019s just not the case,\u201d Josh Thomas, the company\u2019s chief communications officer, said in a video explaining the technology. \u201cThe reality is that Flock LPRs will take a picture in a single point in time from a single location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Civil liberties groups do not agree.<\/p>\n
The American Civil Liberties Union says automated license plate readers collect information about millions of motorists who are not suspected of crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen how this mass surveillance tool can be weaponized and abused by law enforcement,\u201d the organization said.<\/p>\n
The EFF has urged governments to publish independent data measuring stolen vehicle recoveries, clearance rates, hit rates and other performance indicators before continuing to expand surveillance programs.<\/p>\n
Sarah T. Hamid, EFF\u2019s director of strategic campaigns, said Philadelphia\u2019s deployment of more than 700 readers \u201ccreates a massive surveillance network capable of tracking where people live, work, worship, seek medical care and participate in protests, even when they are not suspected of criminal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also deeply concerning how ALPR data travels, and cloud based platforms like Flock Safety make it easy for local agencies to share location data across thousands of jurisdictions, and there are documented cases of federal immigration authorities accessing local ALPR systems in ways that undermined state and local sanctuary protections,\u201d she told The Tribune.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Philadelphia, residents are facing long retention periods \u2014 up to a year for all drivers regardless of suspicion \u2014 as well as rapid expansion of the broader camera network, all with limited public transparency about who can access the data and for what purposes,\u201d Hamid said.<\/p>\n
She added that, too often, law enforcement officials simply echo vendor marketing to justify surveillance purchases.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut cities should treat ALPR procurement like any other high risk policy decision, publishing a clear cost benefit analysis that weighs ALPR spending, including long term contracts and integration costs, against alternative investments in community safety, and being honest that even a modest investigative benefit may not justify building permanent infrastructure for mass location tracking,\u201d Hamid stated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Automated speed cameras are already operating on Roosevelt Boulevard and have helped manage driving speeds as well as reduce the number of crashes resulting in serious injury or fatalities, city officials have said. \u2014 CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PHOTO<\/p>\n
Limited program to a citywide network<\/p>\n
Philadelphia\u2019s automated license plate reader program has changed a lot in just a few years.<\/p>\n
The city initially deployed about 100 fixed readers along major roadways. By January, those cameras had already scanned approximately 25 million license plates.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, over 600 additional readers were added to patrol vehicles, bringing the total to more than 700 cameras that can scan vehicles throughout Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The program has also received significant funding with the city spending about $5 million in grant money to buy and install the expanded network. This is one of Philadelphia\u2019s biggest technology investments, aimed at helping police investigate crimes, recover stolen vehicles, and find wanted or missing people.<\/p>\n
PPD says the technology automatically captures a license plate, records the vehicle\u2019s date, time, and location, and compares that information against law enforcement databases. If a vehicle appears on a hot list, officers receive an alert. A spokesperson said the department retains ALPR records for one year, does not provide ALPR data feeds to third parties, and is updating policies governing access controls, audits, and data retention.<\/p>\n
A second-generation system<\/p>\n
The current rollout involves more than just adding new cameras.<\/p>\n
According to program information, newer installations are tied to expanded infrastructure within the PPD\u2019s Real Time Crime Center and the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center. Officials say upgraded software and upgraded data management are intended to address shortcomings in earlier deployments while improving investigative abilities.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports questioned the effectiveness of Philadelphia\u2019s first license plate reader program, since millions of scans yielded only a few publicly reported stolen-vehicle recoveries or arrests. They also looked at whether the technology gave officers timely and reliable alerts.<\/p>\n
It is still hard to know if the larger network has improved results, since the department has not released verified performance data for the public.<\/p>\n
Cameras all over<\/p>\n
DeFlock says it has mapped over 117,000 automated license plate reader cameras across the U.S. using public records, open-source research, and community tips. This is not an official government list.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the big issues I have with this is that I understand that the company, Flock, keeps the data for at least a month afterward recording license plates, which is crazy because now you have police with private information and a private company with your information,\u201d said Matthew Frank, who resides in West Philadelphia near South 43rd and Locust streets \u2014 the site of one of the hundreds of ALPRs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like that the information is public, and I like all of it even less than if it wasn\u2019t recorded at all,\u201d Frank asserted.<\/p>\n
The PPD says it uses more than just crime statistics to decide where to put cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cCamera placement decisions are informed by multiple factors, including crime data, service needs, calls for service patterns, and qualitative insights from districts,\u201d the department spokesman wrote. \u201cThese sites are periodically reevaluated to ensure they continue to meet public safety objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n