Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has recently announced that he would welcome bipartisan legislation to block the use of Flock cameras in the state. Despite the Pennsylvania governor’s words, many social media users still doubted his sincerity, believing that the proposal would not move forward.
In a new video recorded during a “Making Our Communities Safer” event in Upper Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, the governor talked about his opposition to the use of the controversial Flock cameras for surveillance.
During the video, the governor confirmed that the Pennsylvania State Police does not use Flock cameras and does not allow them on any state property. He also said that he would welcome bipartisan legislation to entirely ban the technology from Pennsylvania, as he did not consider Flock cameras to be in the public interest.
These remarks come on the heels of a growing controversy surrounding Flock cameras in the United States, as many cases of officers allegedly misusing the technology have surfaced recently.
Internet Reacts to Shapiro’s Anti-Flock Camera Stance
On X, one user shared the governor’s video but was not entirely convinced that Shapiro’s heart was in it: “Ugh.. I hate that I agree with him… part of me makes me feel like they know this is a soft spot for conservatives and they’re poking at it. Or maybe because it’s election season.”
Someone else commented, also doubting the governor: “When he was running for his first term, he also supported school-choice vouchers. That made him appealing to many Republican voters. He went back on that one and bent over for the teachers unions. Don’t believe anything he says.”
The overall feeling was one of skepticism, as seen in these comments: “More likely, his statement is a calculated head fake, since he knows ahead of time that no Democrat in the legislature will ever agree to ban Flock cameras. Therefore, even if a Republican majority were to pass legislation to that effect, Shapiro can veto it as not being ‘bipartisan.’”
Some people even believed that if these cameras were banned, other technologies would simply emerge: “That means there is another tribe out there that will corner the market and take over this kind of surveillance…. Mark my words.”
The debate about Flock cameras will likely continue for months, if not years, but it seems increasingly clear that both Democratic and Republican voters believe that this technology may not be as ideal as was first suggested.
