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Plain-language reporting on license plate readers
Automated license plate readers photograph every vehicle that passes them, and they now stand on residential streets, at subdivision entrances, and along highways in every state. This is Finding Flock’s reporting desk: explainers on how the technology works, what the law says about it, and what the public record shows.
Every article follows the same rules. Statements of fact are cited to named sources — statutes, court records, city council proceedings, vendor documentation, and published journalism — and each article records when it was last revised. When a piece makes a claim about where cameras are, the number comes from the same dataset that powers the map: 143,189 license plate readers documented by OpenStreetMap volunteers, refreshed every six hours, and browsable by state and city. How that dataset is assembled, and where it falls short, is set out in the methodology.
We write for the general reader, not the specialist: no acronym goes undefined, and no claim rests on an unnamed authority. We also draw a deliberate line. This site documents where cameras have been reported and how the systems that connect them operate; it does not publish guidance on evading, disabling, or interfering with them.
Identification
What a Flock camera looks like
A field guide to recognizing automated license plate readers: Flock Safety's Falcon on its slim pole and solar panel, Motorola and Vigilant fixed units, Genetec AutoVu, and Leonardo ELSAG hardware.
Updated August 8, 2026Read the article →
By the numbers
How many license plate readers are there?
There is no public registry of automated license plate readers, and the figure quoted in national coverage is a crowd-sourced count — the same lineage as ours. What that number measures, and how it grew from 30 mapped cameras in 2019 to more than a hundred thousand.
Updated August 9, 2026Read the article →
Your options
Can you opt out of Flock cameras?
There is no general opt-out from Flock's license plate readers, and the SafeList is not one. What a resident can actually do: the narrow municipal opt-out lists, the limits state law already imposes, the audit logs agencies publish, and the decision that removes cameras outright.
Updated September 26, 2026Read the article →
Retention
How long do Flock cameras keep data?
Flock's default is now seven days, down from 30 in August 2026, but the police department, HOA, or business that owns each camera sets the actual window within state law. What deletion covers and misses, how other vendors compare, and how to find your agency's number.
Updated September 26, 2026Read the article →
Explainer
What is a Flock camera?
How Flock Safety's license plate readers photograph every passing vehicle, extract a searchable "vehicle fingerprint," and share it across a nationwide network of police departments, HOAs, and businesses.
Updated September 28, 2026Read the article →
Law & policy
License plate reader laws, state by state
There is no federal ALPR statute. This reference tracks the state laws governing automated license plate readers — retention caps, warrant requirements, and sharing restrictions — with links to each statute.
Updated September 28, 2026Read the article →
Data sharing
Does Flock share data with ICE?
Flock Safety says it has no contract with ICE and never shares data on its own. The record shows immigration enforcement reached Flock data: 2025 federal pilots, local officers searching on ICE's behalf, and a hotlist only ICE can fill. What is proven, what is alleged, what changed, and how to check your agency.
Updated September 26, 2026Read the article →
Tracker
Cities that have dropped Flock Safety
A cited, regularly reviewed tracker of US cities and counties that have canceled, declined to renew, paused, or voted down Flock Safety camera contracts — and the reasons they gave.
Updated September 28, 2026Read the article →
Private operators
Flock cameras at Lowe's and Home Depot
Lowe's and Home Depot run Flock license plate readers in their parking lots, and both let police reach the data. What the companies say the cameras are for, which agencies can search them, what shoppers are told, why both chains face lawsuits in California, and how many cameras volunteers have documented.
Updated September 26, 2026Read the article →
State action
The Texas freeze on Flock cameras along state roads
At Gov. Greg Abbott's direction, the Texas Department of Transportation has stopped approving license plate readers on state right-of-way, including installations it had already approved. Cameras already up stay up. What the pause covers, the funding cut that came first, what cities are doing, and how Florida went further.
Updated September 28, 2026Read the article →
Something wrong or missing? If an article misstates a fact, miscredits a source, or has fallen out of date, we want to hear about it. Our corrections policy and contact details are on the about page. New and revised articles are also published to an RSS feed.