A nonprofit watchdog has mapped automated license plate reader cameras in Plymouth Township and surrounding communities, adding fuel to a growing bipartisan push to ban the technology statewide.

Finding Flock, a volunteer-driven project built on OpenStreetMap data, lists cameras in Plymouth Township, Conshohocken, West Conshohocken, the Lower Merion and Gladwyne area, Norristown and West Norriton, and Bridgeport and King of Prussia, as Patch first reported on Thursday, Sept. 24. The locations represent only what volunteers have spotted. Neither Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based manufacturer, nor any government agency has released an official count.

The cameras go beyond standard plate readers. According to Mainline Media News reporting on a North Wales Borough Council discussion, Flock devices photograph vehicles and drivers, then use artificial intelligence to identify make, model and license plate number, creating a searchable database accessible to law enforcement agencies nationwide.

As of Friday, Sept. 25, Finding Flock had documented 142,549 such cameras across the country. Of those where a manufacturer was recorded, 80.5% were Flock Safety hardware. The site calls its tally "a floor, not a census."

North Wales Borough Councilwoman Melanie Catanese told her council at a Sept. 15 meeting that DeFlock.org, an open-source camera map, showed roughly 144 automated plate readers in Montgomery County and about 3,200 statewide, Mainline Media News reported. About 60% belong to Flock Safety, she said.

The mapping effort arrives as bipartisan opposition builds in Harrisburg. Gov. Josh Shapiro said at an Aug. 28 press conference, as reported by the West Chester Chronicle, "I would welcome bipartisan legislation to ban these across the state. This is not something I support. This is not something in the public interest."

Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said in a Sept. 4 AP report that the cameras are "an intrusive invasion of privacy and they should be banned."

Lawmakers in both parties have introduced at least nine bills to restrict or ban the readers, seven of them in the past six weeks, Spotlight PA reported. No state has passed an outright ban. State Sen. Dan Laughlin, a Republican from Erie, has introduced a bill to prohibit Flock cameras and similar networked systems statewide.

The Shapiro administration said it is removing Flock from COSTARS, the state contracting portal used by nearly 10,000 local governments and public agencies. Just one municipality had purchased a Flock contract through the portal. Shapiro spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky told Spotlight PA the administration is "working with the General Assembly on what piece of legislation could make it to the Governor's desk in order to protect Pennsylvanians' privacy."

In Montgomery County, Abington Township voted to replace its police department's Flock system. The department said the new system would put more limits on data sharing.

Plymouth Township's position on the cameras is not publicly known. No statement from Plymouth Township police or township officials on the use of Flock technology appears in public records as of publication.

Residents who want to see where cameras have been mapped can visit findingflock.com.