Cameras / VA
License plate readers in Virginia
3,405 cameras have been documented in Virginia. That is the 14th-largest documented total of the 52 states and territories with any readers on record, and 2.3% of the 146,149 documented nationwide. Virginia Beach has the most of any city in the state, with 251 — 7.4% of the total. Flock Safety accounts for the largest share of the 2,091 readers counted in the state's indexed cities, at 88%. 2,091 of them stand in the 45 cities listed below. 1,314 more are outside those city limits — along highways, in smaller towns, and in unincorporated areas.
Checked against OpenStreetMap November 14, 2026 · figures last changed November 13, 2026.
3,405
cameras documented statewide
14th
most-documented of 52 states and territories
2,091
in listed cities
1,314
outside city limits
ALPR law in Virginia
Virginia regulates automated license plate readers under Va. Code § 2.2-5517. The statute caps retention at 21 days. Enacted by HB 2724 and effective July 1, 2025, Virginia's statute requires plate data to be purged 21 days after capture so that neither the agency nor its vendor can recover it. Queries are limited to crimes supported by reasonable suspicion, missing-person cases, and hot-list alerts; an alert alone is not reasonable suspicion for a stop, and willful misuse is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
ALPR laws in all 21 states with a statute →
Statute last verified September 26, 2026.
Who makes them
Manufacturer, where volunteers recorded it, for cameras in the listed cities.
- Flock Safety1,841
- Motorola Solutions11
- Genetec15
- Leonardo/ELSAG25
- Neology3
- Other vendors170
- Unknown26
By city
| City | Cameras | Per square mile |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach | 251 | 1.03 |
| Norfolk | 246 | 4.62 |
| Hampton | 159 | 3.09 |
| Richmond | 156 | 2.60 |
| Suffolk | 147 | 0.37 |
| Portsmouth | 141 | 4.23 |
| Newport News | 130 | 1.88 |
| Chesapeake | 91 | 0.27 |
| Alexandria | 74 | 4.95 |
| Williamsburg | 42 | 4.70 |
| Arlington | 40 | 1.54 |
| Winchester | 39 | 4.24 |
| Fairfax | 39 | 6.25 |
| Roanoke | 30 | 0.71 |
| Blacksburg | 25 | 1.26 |
| Hopewell | 24 | 2.32 |
| Tysons | 23 | 5.39 |
| Emporia | 21 | 3.17 |
| George Mason | 20 | 7.88 |
| Herndon | 20 | 4.67 |
| Reston | 20 | 1.30 |
| Sudley | 20 | 7.26 |
| Danville | 20 | 0.47 |
| Martinsville | 19 | 1.73 |
| Potomac Mills | 19 | 4.47 |
| Springfield | 19 | 2.42 |
| Smithfield | 18 | 1.85 |
| Chester | 17 | 1.29 |
| Huntington | 17 | 15.05 |
| Culpeper | 16 | 2.12 |
| Chantilly | 14 | 1.17 |
| Franklin | 14 | 1.69 |
| Bluefield | 14 | 1.47 |
| Fredericksburg | 14 | 1.34 |
| Leesburg | 14 | 1.11 |
| Lynchburg | 13 | 0.27 |
| Petersburg | 13 | 0.57 |
| Centreville | 13 | 1.09 |
| Colonial Heights | 12 | 1.60 |
| Woodstock | 12 | 3.15 |
| Bailey's Crossroads | 12 | 5.85 |
| McLean | 11 | 0.44 |
| Vienna | 11 | 2.50 |
| Dale City | 11 | 0.77 |
| Galax | 10 | 1.21 |
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.
Contract decisions in Virginia
2 decisions here are in our tracker of communities that have stepped back from Flock Safety. A decision date is not a removal date: cameras stay in the record above until a volunteer edits OpenStreetMap.
- Lynchburg declined to renew its Flock Safety contract · Sep 3, 2026
- Harrisonburg canceled its Flock Safety contract · Jul 28, 2026
Explore this data further
- Who operates Virginia’s cameras — police, HOAs, and retailers →
- Every ALPR manufacturer compared nationally →
- Download this data as CSV or GeoJSON →
- How the national count is measured →
- What a Flock camera is and how it works →
- What the cameras look like, and how to spot one →
- What residents can and cannot opt out of →
Virginia ranks 14th of 52 by documented cameras. Missouri (3,482) ranks just above, and Alabama (3,062) just below.