Cameras / CA
License plate readers in California
19,605 cameras have been documented in California. That is the largest documented total of the 51 states and territories with any readers on record, and 15.0% of the 130,300 documented nationwide. San Diego has the most of any city in the state, with 724 — 3.7% of the total. Flock Safety accounts for the largest share of the 17,109 readers counted in the state's indexed cities, at 79%. 17,109 of them stand in the 329 cities listed below. 2,496 more are outside those city limits — along highways, in smaller towns, and in unincorporated areas.
Updated August 14, 2026.
19,605
cameras documented statewide
1st
most-documented of 51 states and territories
17,109
in listed cities
2,496
outside city limits
ALPR law in California
California regulates automated license plate readers under Civil Code §§ 1798.90.5–1798.90.55. SB 34 reaches private ALPR operators as well as police: every operator must publish a usage and privacy policy, log each query, and public agencies may not sell or share plate data with non-public agencies. The statute sets no numeric retention cap, though Vehicle Code § 2413 limits Highway Patrol retention to 60 days.
Who makes them
Manufacturer, where volunteers recorded it, for cameras in the listed cities.
- Flock Safety13,572
- Motorola Solutions1,551
- Genetec69
- Leonardo/ELSAG19
- Neology57
- Other vendors994
- Unknown847
By city
Camera locations: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). City boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files. Counts reflect volunteer documentation, not an official census; cities appear once ten cameras are documented.