A member of the public who identified themself as the administrator of the Facebook group "Allentown PA community" urged council to remove city cameras and related surveillance systems, saying such systems are being misused elsewhere and can be leveraged under national‑security orders.

What was said: The commenter described a curated collection of reports and national examples and argued that camera and related data can be used by federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “If you care anything at all about the people, the citizens of the city of Allentown, please get rid of them,” the commenter said (00:47:19). The commenter also warned about national security letters and the potential of artificial intelligence to expand data processing and misuse.

Context and council response: The public comment followed a police presentation that described the department’s use of license‑plate readers, gunshot‑detection technology and a multi‑year camera deployment funded in part by a grant. Councilmembers asked technical services about the number of cameras and the status of the grant deployment; Dennis Weatherholt said the city has 198 street cameras and 126 building cameras in service and is about 50% through deploying an additional 150 grant‑funded street cameras (00:34:08). The council did not take an immediate action on removing camera systems during the meeting.

Ending: The comment will be part of the public record as council and staff continue to oversee camera deployment and monitoring; council members asked staff for data on CIS operations and other grant‑funded programs during the same meeting (00:47:19).