Someone in Tilden Township cut down the poles holding up a set of license-plate-reading cameras outside a Lowe’s store, smashed the devices’ solar panels and made off with the cameras themselves. Now investigators are trying to figure out who did it.
The cameras belonged to Lowe’s and functioned only as license plate readers, according to police, as reported by WFMZ. Whoever was responsible cut down the poles supporting the cameras, destroyed their solar panels, and stole the cameras outright, leaving the retailer without its surveillance system in that stretch of the parking lot.
Township’s Only Flock Cameras Targeted
Frank Cataldi said this marked Tilden Township’s first incident of this kind involving its Flock cameras — and notably, these were the township’s only Flock cameras in operation. The cameras at Lowe’s had been used to investigate crimes against the business or activity happening in its parking lot, per Cataldi.
Cataldi acknowledged that the technology does not always sit well with people, even as he described the theft itself as straightforwardly criminal. He said police will investigate once they have a suspect, and that Tilden Township police will file charges if investigators make a positive identification.
A Pattern Playing Out Statewide
Tilden Township’s theft is far from an isolated case. Cataldi noted that Flock camera vandalism, destruction and theft has occurred around the country for several months, a pattern echoed in other recent Pennsylvania incidents. In Hazleton, police reported that multiple Flock camera locations throughout the city were vandalized on the evening of Halloween, resulting in damage to the system, according to the Citizens’ Voice.
Pennsylvania State Police are separately investigating the vandalism of two Flock cameras in Franklin County, one in Southampton Township and the other in Antrim Township, per WGAL. And back on the Fourth of July, someone in Chambersburg cut down two poles holding up Flock cameras near a Lowe’s and taped an American flag in their place, as Local 21 News reported.
Why These Cameras Draw Attention
Flock cameras are typically owned by businesses or municipal government entities and can serve multiple functions, including reading license plates and tracking people and movement, which helps explain why they have become flashpoints in communities wary of surveillance. Pennsylvania police departments have cited a documented recent pattern of vandalism targeting ALPR and Flock cameras as a reason for declining to disclose camera locations publicly, according to PennLive.
The resistance isn’t limited to Pennsylvania. Flock has said it works with more than 7,000 communities nationwide and estimates roughly 100,000 of its cameras are deployed, per the BBC. Yet the advocacy group Secure Justice says more than 200 communities have cancelled or declined to renew Flock contracts since 2021, including 90 in August alone, the BBC reported. A separate count found 23 jurisdictions nationwide have voted to cancel or reject Flock license plate readers amid privacy and surveillance concerns, according to NewsNation.
That same NewsNation report described all eight Flock cameras in a small Minnesota town being stolen, with officers finding the poles cut down near their bases and later locating them scattered in nearby weeds. In Houston’s Old Braeswood neighborhood, four surveillance cameras were attacked and cut down in the middle of the night in late July, the BBC noted — part of what cybernews.com has described as a nationwide wave of incidents ranging from theft and tampering to cameras being shot or cut down, as detailed in a report from the outlet.
PennLive has reported that national pushback on automated license plate readers has grown over the past year, including in central Pennsylvania, as lawmakers weigh how to respond to the privacy concerns driving much of the backlash. For now, Tilden Township police are asking anyone with information about the theft at Lowe’s to call them at 610-562-9001.
