Flock camera database
There is no official database of Flock camera locations. What exists is an open one, built by volunteers: 138,636 ALPR camera records across 50 US states, held in OpenStreetMap and republished here, last refreshed September 4, 2026.
This page covers where the data comes from, what a record contains, how it's licensed, and how to get it yourself. If you just want to look up cameras near you, the tracker is the faster route.
- 138,636
- Camera records
- ODbL
- Open Database License
- Nightly
- Refresh cadence
Free to reuse with attribution
Where the data comes from
Every record originates in OpenStreetMap. A contributor observes a camera from a public street
and adds a node tagged man_made=surveillance with
surveillance:type=ALPR, optionally recording the manufacturer and
the direction it faces. This is the same open tagging scheme used for every other feature in
OSM, which means anyone can inspect, correct, or dispute a record.
FlockScanner queries that data nightly, trims it to the fields below, and publishes it. It adds nothing to OpenStreetMap and holds no private source. See methodology for the pipeline in detail.
What a camera record contains
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| id | Stable OpenStreetMap object ID, e.g. node/123456789 |
| lat, lng | Position as recorded by the contributor |
| vendor | Flock Safety, Rekor, Motorola/Vigilant, Genetec, or unknown |
| cameraType | Fixed ALPR, mobile ALPR, or traffic camera |
| directionDeg | Compass bearing the camera faces, or null |
| osmVersion | OSM object version, for change tracking |
| lastSyncedAt | When FlockScanner's sync last touched the record |
That is the whole schema. No personal data, no plate reads, no images, no contributor identities.
Licensing and reuse
The camera data is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under the Open Database License. In practice that means you can use it, build on it and redistribute it, provided you attribute OpenStreetMap contributors and release any derived database under the same licence. FlockScanner asserts no additional rights over it.
If you want the raw data rather than this site's presentation of it, go to the source: query the
Overpass API for nodes tagged surveillance:type=ALPR. You'll get the
same records this site is built from, and you won't be dependent on us.
Known limitations
- Coverage is uneven. Density follows volunteer activity, not camera deployment.
- Records can be stale. A mapped camera may have been removed, especially where a city has cancelled its contract.
- Vendor is mostly unknown. Identifying a manufacturer from the roadside is hard.
- US-only in this dataset. Canadian records are tracked separately.
Related
Common questions
Is there a database of Flock camera locations?
Yes, though not an official one. The de facto public database is OpenStreetMap, where volunteers tag ALPR cameras they observe using man_made=surveillance and surveillance:type=ALPR. FlockScanner reads that data nightly and republishes it as a map and directory — 138,636 camera records across 50 US states as of September 4, 2026. Flock Safety does not publish a database of its own installations, and no US government agency maintains one.
Can I download the Flock camera database?
The underlying data is OpenStreetMap data, licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL), and anyone can obtain it directly from OpenStreetMap — most simply by querying the Overpass API for nodes tagged surveillance:type=ALPR. Because it is ODbL, you may use, modify and redistribute it provided you attribute OpenStreetMap contributors and share derived databases under the same licence. FlockScanner claims no additional rights over it.
What fields does each camera record contain?
FlockScanner keeps a deliberately minimal record per camera: a stable OpenStreetMap ID, latitude and longitude, the vendor where a contributor identified one, the camera type (fixed ALPR, mobile ALPR, or traffic camera), the compass direction it faces where recorded, the OSM object version, and the timestamp of the sync that last touched it. There is no personal data of any kind — no plate reads, no images, no contributor identities.
How reliable is the ALPR camera database?
Each record is as good as the volunteer who created it, and FlockScanner does not independently field-verify any of them. The practical accuracy profile: positions are usually good to within a few metres; the presence of a camera is reliable, since someone saw it; completeness is poor and geographically uneven; and vendor and direction are missing far more often than present. Treat it as a high-confidence floor rather than a census.
As of September 4, 2026, FlockScanner maps 138,636 documented ALPR (automated license plate reader) cameras across 50 US states, including Flock Safety cameras, sourced from OpenStreetMap and refreshed nightly. That figure is a lower bound on the number actually installed — it counts what volunteers have mapped, not what exists.
Camera location data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).