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Posted on 08/06/2026 6:33:57 PM PDT by lightman
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Pennsylvania State Police are still working to identify whoever has been cutting down Flock cameras throughout Franklin County this summer as a protest against the cameras is just days away.
One of the cameras, located near the Lowes off Lincoln Way E. in Chambersburg, was cut down July 4 and replaced with an American flag. Then, sometime overnight Sunday into Monday, troopers said another Flock camera was cut down off Moly Pitcher Highway in Antrim Township.
READ MORE | Cameras cut down, replaced with American flag amid Flock debate in Franklin County
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after someone cut down a pole with Flock cameras on it near a Lowes in Chambersburg, Pa., and taped an American flag onto it on July 4, 2026. (Courtesy of Austin McDannell) Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after someone cut down a pole with Flock cameras on it near a Lowes in Chambersburg, Pa., and taped an American flag onto it on July 4, 2026. (Courtesy of Austin McDannell)
State police said an estimated five Flock cameras have been vandalized in recent months, and troopers are following up on leads to identify those responsible.
Franklin County Sheriff Benjamin Sites told CBS 21 in a previous interview that the sheriff’s office itself has around three cameras, but that doesn’t count the ones privately owned by area businesses, which could put the number closer to 16.
Some residents like Austin McDannell have been outspoken against the county’s use of Flock cameras, expressing concerns over privacy, surveillance and data protection.
In response to concerns like these, Sites said, “This is a limited criminal justice investigative tool for legitimate purposes. And I think it's being made out to be this mass overreach of violating individual's constitutional right, and specifically in Franklin County, that's not how it's being used, and that's not how we ever will use the system.”
McDannell is one of two people behind DeFlock Franklin County’s “Stop The Flock” protest Saturday in Chambersburg, which is scheduled to take place 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
DeFlock Franklin County wrote in a statement that it does not support criminal activity, but it also understands the historical significance of unlawful protests.
"DeFlock Franklin County has not and will not aid and abet any criminal activity. However, we also recognize that illegal forms of protest are deeply rooted in American history, dating the whole way back to the Boston Tea Party. Franklin County should understand that principle with the yearly reenactment of The Burning of Chambersburg.”
Sites told CBS 21 that Franklin County does not use Flock cameras to track faces or monitor people’s day-to-day habits. Instead, he said, the cameras are used for legitimate law enforcement purposes, such identifying license plates and vehicles connected to wanted or missing individuals. He added that only authorized personnel have access to the data collected by the Flock cameras, which is stored for 30 days.
Automated license plate readers, known as ALPRs, were used in a case recently in Franklin County to help authorities identify a man accused of taking a 14-year-old girl from her Maryland home to a motel in Chambersburg, where he allegedly raped her.
READ MORE | License plate readers help troopers ID man accused of raping girl at motel: troopers
CBS 21 asked state police if the ALPRs used in that case were Flock cameras, and a public information officer said it’s the same thing.
DeFlock Franklin County said in a separate statement that it understands these tools can be helpful for law enforcement, but that does not negate what it considers to be invasive tactics.
“DeFlock Franklin County does not ignore that ALPR cameras help law enforcement solve crimes quicker. However, that boundary is crossed when it starts doing more than just scanning plates such as collecting identifying vehicle and pedestrian attributes and logging that with time and location stamps. Again, these cameras are more than just Automated License Plate Readers.”
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Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after someone cut down a pole with Flock cameras on it near a Lowes in Chambersburg, Pa., and taped an American flag onto it on July 4, 2026. (
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Someone help me out here. Why would anyone need Flock cameras in Chambersburg? Is crime really a problem there? I could see putting them in and around Chester here in Delco, but Chambersburg? Really? Unless someone here corrects me, I can see why people might be upset at having them there.
One can only hope.
They are not about safety.
They are about control.
They are meant to be license plate readers but they are putting them everywhere that cars do not even go.
Before you would need 1 watcher to monitor a civilian. 3 watchers if you wanted to monitor that civilian 24/7. Also, who watches the watchers? Remember the paranoia about the NSA recording everything, but how could they actually process a meaningful amount of that data? Now with AI they can make a real world panopticon and monitor everyone in real time 24/7.
That’s just nuts. Here in Brookhaven, PA I’d welcome them because we’re less than a mile from Chester (and if you know Brookhaven cops, they’re ultra-strict because we want them that way — it sends Chester lowlifes the message that we’re always watching). But yeah, if they’re doing that out there something is very, very fishy.
Chambersburg is only 14 miles from the Maryland state line...going south you can cross three state lines (MD, WV, and VA) in less than one hour.
That is because the “bigger (revenue/control generating) plan” is a “Mosaic” type system that Flock can sell. See the following YT video for more on constitutionality:
https://youtu.be/TOfK-w6mSnw?si=cjOSbrWrHX8avdSH
and
https://deflock.org (for Flock cam locations)
Same here in northern CA. There are 2 flock cameras on my parents 2 lane road in the foothills. No one wanted them. There are multi million dollar homes on this road. There’s always been zero crime up here. And Texas freeper, no kidnappings or murders.
All I can think of is how different would COVID had been if the flock network were up and running? A helluva lot different, and not in a good way.
It's not about crime control.
It's about control. Your masters in the political caste insist on monitoring your every move ...
Chambersburg sits on a major drug corridor I-81. It is also bisected by Rt30 a well-traveled East - West road. Maryland State Troopers regularly sit on 81 and nail druggies as they are driving through Hagerstown. How do they know which cars to nail?
Golly gee. I don’t know.
“Before you would need 1 watcher to monitor a civilian. 3 watchers if you wanted to monitor that civilian 24/7.”
Yep, and that was part of the reasoning of the Supreme Court when they allowed monitoring of people from public locations without a warrant. Example: A city of 100,000 typically will have about 1000 cops, at most. Figure if they wanted to spy on their people just for fun, maybe they could free up 600 cops for that task, and from that have 150 people available per shift (since cops don’t work 7 days a week), so, at best, they could continuously spy on well under 1% of their citizens...closer to 1 in a 1000 people.
Now with Flock, they can spy on 999 in 1000 people (at least among those who drive)...also WITHOUT A WARRANT.
Without Flock (and similar systems), innocent people were quite safe from being spied on...not anymore.
“known as ALPRs, were used in a case recently in Franklin County to help authorities identify a man accused of taking a 14-year-old girl from her Maryland home to a motel in Chambersburg, where he allegedly raped her.”
.
Yep, just had to have that camera to identify, no way the girl could point and say “that guy.”
More Tin Badge balls, otherwise known as pignorance.
.
Not all heroes wear capes.
The wind blew it down
The constitutional winds of change
There is a website called DeFlock that has an interactive map showing Flock camera locations in the USA.
I was very surprised at how many there are, even located on interstate highways.
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