The Erie Town Council approved the use of Flock cameras in May 2022, and the Police Department deployed its first 12 cameras that July. The system has since expanded to 24 cameras.
\n![\"Green](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791941695_25_Screenshot-2026-10-12-110110.png\")
Green spots mark where Flock Safety cameras are located in Erie. (Town of Erie \/ courtesy image)\n<\/p>\n
Mathis said the technology was initially adopted in response to rising crime, with a focus on vehicle thefts, and has helped officers identify and recover stolen vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do know that we were able to recover many more stolen vehicles and we were able to find those types of plates much quicker once we deployed the system,\u201d Mathis said.<\/p>\n
With a population estimate exceeding 41,000 by the end of 2025, Erie has more than doubled in size since 2010, when it had about 18,000 residents.<\/p>\n
As the town continues to grow, the department will \u201chave to add staff,\u201d Mathis said, adding: \u201cFlock does make us more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Erie is a very safe community. We\u2019re trying hard to keep it that way,\u201d he said.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
How Flock works in Erie<\/p>\n
From 2023 to 2025, Erie officers arrested 52 people on warrants identified through Flock alerts, according to Mathis. Last year, Erie\u2019s Flock cameras registered 2,317 \u201chot list hits,\u201d flagging vehicles associated with law enforcement purposes such as stolen vehicle reports, missing persons or outstanding warrants.<\/p>\n
Flock\u2019s automated license plate readers capture still images of passing vehicles and their license plates, recording where and when they were detected. Flock cameras do not use facial recognition<\/a>, according to the company\u2019s website<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Authorized officers receive alerts when the system detects a license plate associated with a law enforcement database.\n<\/p>\n Officers can also search previously collected images as part of an investigation, provided they document a legitimate law enforcement reason, such as a case number or computer-aided dispatch number. Mathis said Erie recently shortened its data retention period from 30 days to seven days in response to community concern about privacy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll lose some things, taking it from 30 to 7, but we\u2019ll still get the majority,\u201d Mathis said.<\/p>\n Under department policy, the technology cannot be used for immigration or traffic enforcement, harassment, personal purposes or usage based \u201csolely\u201d on protected characteristics such as race, sex or religion, according to the town\u2019s Flock webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mathis said the Flock system has safeguards in place to protect data, including multifactor authentication and audits designed to flag unusual searches or officer activity. Access is restricted to authorized law enforcement personnel, and the Erie department owns its data, which is \u201cnever sold,\u201d the town\u2019s page says.<\/p>\n \u2018A Trojan horse\u2019<\/p>\n Residents at the Flock Q&A session still questioned whether those data protections are sufficient, and whether Flock is leading Erie down a slippery surveillance slope.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that this is a Trojan horse,\u201d one resident said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that we\u2019re taking this seriously enough that it is a step into drones being over Erie. \u2026 You could just go out of control with it depending on who\u2019s in office and who\u2019s in the police system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere has to be guardrails,\u201d the resident added.<\/p>\n Others pointed to incidents elsewhere involving alleged misuse of Flock technology.<\/p>\n In Georgia, a police officer was recently fired and placed under investigation<\/a> after being accused of using his department\u2019s license plate reader system to search for his ex-girlfriend\u2019s vehicle. And closer to home, a Denver woman has filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> against town officials and Flock after she was accused of stealing a package from a home she says she had never been to.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of concern about officer abuse and misuse,\u201d Mathis said. \u201cAnd I agree. Every profession has bad apples. We do our best to keep them out of Erie, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like Flock. I don\u2019t consider it surveillance. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s overly intrusive on your privacy or mine. \u2026 I think it helps make our community safer,\u201d Mathis added.<\/p>\n In neighboring Lafayette, the City Council this month voted in favor of removing over $70,000<\/a> in funding tied to Flock from next year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n