Flock & ALPR cameras in Charlotte, NC
985 mapped ALPR cameras around metro Charlotte as of 3 September 2026, run by 48 operators — including 25 in private hands. See each one on the live map below — which way it faces and its approximate capture zone — free, no account. BanditKin is the private app that routes around them.
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What makes Charlotte different
Charlotte's map area straddles a state line. York County, Lancaster County and Rock Hill sit on the South Carolina side while Charlotte-Mecklenburg polices the North Carolina side, so a single commute can cross two states' ALPR programs and two sets of retention rules.
Coverage here is thin and wide rather than concentrated: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police run 161 of the 985 mapped cameras, about 16%, a low lead-agency share by the standards of the metros we map, with the rest spread across 47 other operators. Lowe's appears inside the top 20 with 18 cameras, one of several retailers running plate readers on private lots.
This page is part of the North Carolina camera hub, which counts every camera inside the state line rather than by metro box; the York County and Rock Hill side of the metro is counted on the South Carolina hub.
Charlotte ALPR cameras by the numbers
The headline figures for Charlotte, all read from one pull of the live map.
985
Mapped ALPR cameras in metro Charlotte
48
Separate operating agencies on the map
800
Cameras with a recorded facing direction
902
Cameras tagged Flock Safety
Read from the live map on 3 September 2026. The underlying records are OpenStreetMap entries plus community submissions — nobody who operates a camera is obliged to declare it, so these are the documented minimum rather than the full picture. The metro is a box roughly 50 miles across centred on Charlotte.
How Charlotte compares
Upper third on size among the 251 metro areas tracked, all counted the same way on the same day.
Charlotte ranks 52nd of the 251 metro areas BanditKin tracks by mapped cameras, between Philadelphia, PA and Birmingham, AL, and 56th by operator count.
On composition it ranks 184th on how much of the metro its largest operator holds (16%) and 212th on the share of cameras with a recorded bearing (81%) — a spread-out network.
Mapped ALPR cameras
985 — 52nd of 251
Separate operators on the map
48 — 56th of 251
Cameras per operator
20.5 — 68th of 251
Largest operator's share
16% — 184th of 251
Share with a recorded bearing
81% — 212th of 251
Ranked against the 251 metro areas BanditKin tracks, every one read from the live map on 3 September 2026. Metro areas are drawn as a box around the city centre, so neighbouring metros can share cameras and these counts must never be added together.
Which departments run the cameras around Charlotte
Who runs Charlotte's plate readers — the 20 biggest of 48 operators, by mapped cameras.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
161 cameras
Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office
37 cameras
Monroe Police Department
31 cameras
Huntersville Police Department
30 cameras
Waxhaw Police Department
28 cameras
York County Sheriff's Office
26 cameras
Concord Police Department
26 cameras
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
25 cameras
Indian Trail Police Department
24 cameras
Gastonia Police Department
23 cameras
Belmont Police Department
22 cameras
Lancaster County Sheriff's Office
21 cameras
Matthews Police Department
21 cameras
Rock Hill Police Department
20 cameras
Union County Sheriff's Department
19 cameras
Lowe's
18 cameras
Fort Mill Police Department
18 cameras
Mint Hill Police Department
16 cameras
Pineville Police Department
14 cameras
Weddington Police Department
13 cameras
These are the 20 largest of 48 operators. Where OpenStreetMap names an operator we use that name; otherwise the camera is attributed to whichever jurisdiction it stands in (689 cameras here), which is a sound inference rather than a confirmed fact. 269 cameras record no operator of any kind.
It isn't all Flock
'Flock' has become shorthand for any plate reader. Around Charlotte it is mostly accurate — 95% of the vendor-tagged cameras — but Axis Communications accounts for 14.
Flock Safety
902 cameras
Axis Communications
14 cameras
NDI Recognition Systems
11 cameras
Motorola Solutions
7 cameras
Neology
4 cameras
Uniview
3 cameras
Genetec
1 camera
Axon Enterprise
1 camera
Manufacturer is a free-text field, so spellings and legal names have been consolidated here. 39 of 985 mapped cameras name no manufacturer at all, which makes the actual distribution broader than shown. 2 further manufacturers fall below the eight shown. These count cameras on the map, not purchase orders.
Where they sit, and which way they face
800 of the 985 mapped cameras around Charlotte record which way they point, which is what makes routing around them possible.
They are easy to miss and hard to unsee — a small rectangular box on a narrow pole near a junction, generally with a solar panel and a stubby barrel lens. Where the data records how a camera around Charlotte is mounted, the split is:
On a dedicated pole
172 cameras
On a post
15 cameras
On a street lamp
9 cameras
On a ceiling
1 camera
One camera covers one approach, so its heading is what decides which journeys end up recorded. Around Charlotte the mapped bearings distribute like this:
Facing southwest
114 cameras
Facing north
113 cameras
Facing south
113 cameras
Facing west
99 cameras
Facing northeast
98 cameras
Facing east
98 cameras
Facing southeast
86 cameras
Facing northwest
79 cameras
Bearings come from public map data and describe an approximate capture zone, never an exact field of view. 182 mapped cameras have no recorded bearing, and 3 are tagged as omnidirectional.
Documented ALPR programs around Charlotte
7 agencies around Charlotte appear in the EFF Atlas of Surveillance as ALPR users — a records count, against the 48 operators physically on the map.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has over 100 automated license plate readers.
Huntersville Police Department
As of April 2024, the Huntersville Police Department operates 10 Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Mint Hill Police Department
As of April 2024, the Mint Hill Police Department operates 10 Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Pineville Police Department
As of April 2024, the Pineville Police Department operates eight Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days. Vendor: Flock Safety.
University of North Carolina Charlotte Police Department
The University of North Carolina Charlotte Police Department operates 17 Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Matthews Police Department
The Matthews Police Department operates 12 Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Atlas of Surveillance. Summaries are the Atlas's own wording, trimmed to a complete sentence.
Seeing the cameras is free. Avoiding them is the app.
Every camera on this map reads plates from one direction — the cone shows its approximate capture zone. BanditKin's private navigation uses those cones to route around cameras when you ask it to, with a strength slider you control. When a camera-free route doesn't exist, it says so honestly and falls back to the normal route.
This page is part of the North Carolina camera hub, which counts every camera inside the state line rather than by metro box. New to this? Read what ALPR cameras capture, how long it is kept, and who can search it. Not in Charlotte? Search the full map by any city.
ALPR camera maps for nearby and related cities: Raleigh, NC · Greenville, SC · Augusta, GA · Athens, GA · Knoxville, TN · Savannah, GA.
Get BanditKin on Google PlayCharlotte ALPR questions
How many Flock cameras does Charlotte have?
As of 3 September 2026 the map records 985 ALPR cameras around Charlotte, 902 of them tagged Flock Safety, across 48 operators. The number only ever grows as more are mapped; it is not a complete inventory.
Where are Flock cameras in Charlotte?
The live map above shows 985 mapped ALPR cameras around metro Charlotte, each with an approximate viewing cone. Positions come from OpenStreetMap and community reports, so coverage may be incomplete — if you know a camera that isn't shown, you can report it directly on the map.
Who operates the ALPR cameras around Charlotte?
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is the largest mapped operator with 161 cameras, ahead of Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office's 37. Beyond them the network spreads across 47 other operators. Private operators are part of it: Lowe's (18). The EFF Atlas of Surveillance documents 7 agencies across this area.
Can I avoid Flock cameras when driving in Charlotte?
Yes, within limits. BanditKin routes around the 800 Charlotte cameras whose facing direction is known (81% of the total), with a slider for how hard to try, and it tells you honestly when no camera-free route exists. It is off by default and never sends your identity or location.
Is this map free? Do I need an account?
Yes, the map is free, and no account is needed. It is built on public data — OpenStreetMap and the EFF Atlas of Surveillance — plus community reports. The BanditKin app adds the private navigation that routes around the cameras.