Flock & ALPR cameras in Houston, TX
3,759 mapped ALPR cameras around metro Houston as of 3 September 2026, run by 43 operators — 99% of the vendor-tagged ones Flock Safety. 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 Houston different
Houston has the most concentrated ALPR network of any large metro we map. Houston Police Department alone accounts for 1,877 of the 3,759 mapped cameras — almost exactly half, the highest single-agency share of any metro with more than 2,000 cameras. Add the Harris County Sheriff's 411 and two agencies cover roughly three-fifths of the metro.
It is also the second-largest mapped network BanditKin tracks, behind only Atlanta, and unusually well documented: 3,604 of its 3,759 cameras carry a recorded compass bearing, so the direction each one faces is known for 96% of them. That is what makes direction-aware routing practical in Houston rather than guesswork.
Houston is the largest of five Texas metros with a dedicated camera page. See the Texas ALPR camera overview for city-by-city counts across the state.
Houston ALPR cameras by the numbers
Four numbers that describe the Houston network, taken from the map above on the same day.
3,759
Mapped ALPR cameras in metro Houston
43
Separate operating agencies on the map
3,604
Cameras with a recorded facing direction
3,271
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 Houston.
How Houston compares
Top of the table on size among the 251 metro areas tracked, all counted the same way on the same day.
Houston ranks 2nd of the 251 metro areas BanditKin tracks by mapped cameras, between Atlanta, GA and Anaheim, CA, and 67th by operator count.
Its cameras-per-operator figure of 87.4 ranks 1st, its lead operator's 50% share ranks 32nd, and its 96% bearing coverage ranks 48th — all of 251.
Mapped ALPR cameras
3,759 — 2nd of 251
Separate operators on the map
43 — 67th of 251
Cameras per operator
87.4 — 1st of 251
Largest operator's share
50% — 32nd of 251
Share with a recorded bearing
96% — 48th 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 Houston
43 operators appear on the map around Houston; the 20 largest are listed here.
Houston Police Department
1,877 cameras
Harris County Sheriff's Office
411 cameras
Sugar Land Police Department
163 cameras
Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office
108 cameras
West University Place Police Department
85 cameras
Pasadena Police Department
74 cameras
Missouri City Police Department
70 cameras
Pearland Police Department
63 cameras
Webster Police Department
40 cameras
Brazoria County Sheriff's Office
38 cameras
Bellaire Police Department
35 cameras
Alvin Police Department
34 cameras
Stafford Police Department
34 cameras
Jersey Village Police Department
30 cameras
Friendswood Police Department
26 cameras
Spring Valley Village Police Department
26 cameras
Rosenberg Police Department
20 cameras
Hunters Creek Village Police Department
16 cameras
League City Police Department
15 cameras
Piney Point Village Police Department
13 cameras
These are the 20 largest of 43 operators. Where OpenStreetMap names an operator we use that name; otherwise the camera is attributed to whichever jurisdiction it stands in (3,197 cameras here), which is a sound inference rather than a confirmed fact. 453 cameras record no operator of any kind.
It isn't all Flock
'Flock' has become shorthand for any plate reader. Around Houston it is mostly accurate — 99% of the vendor-tagged cameras — but Genetec accounts for 7.
Flock Safety
3,271 cameras
Genetec
7 cameras
Neology
6 cameras
Axis Communications
3 cameras
Motorola Solutions
2 cameras
LiveView Technologies
2 cameras
Rekor
1 camera
Leonardo
1 camera
Manufacturer is a free-text field, so spellings and legal names have been consolidated here. 464 of 3,759 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
3,604 of the 3,759 mapped cameras around Houston record which way they point, which is what makes routing around them possible.
Most readers sit on a dedicated pole a few metres up, angled at one lane of traffic, with a solar panel above. Where the mount is recorded around Houston:
On a dedicated pole
576 cameras
On a street lamp
11 cameras
On a post
2 cameras
On a wall
2 cameras
One camera covers one approach, so its heading is what decides which journeys end up recorded. Around Houston the mapped bearings distribute like this:
Facing north
625 cameras
Facing south
622 cameras
Facing east
547 cameras
Facing west
521 cameras
Facing northeast
345 cameras
Facing northwest
327 cameras
Facing southeast
311 cameras
Facing southwest
306 cameras
Bearings come from public map data and describe an approximate capture zone, never an exact field of view. 147 mapped cameras have no recorded bearing, and 8 are tagged as omnidirectional.
Documented ALPR programs around Houston
Records-based sources document 25 agencies running plate readers around Houston. Some of the largest are below; the map above shows where the cameras actually are.
Deer Park Police Department
The Deer Park Police Department scanned 14,235 license plates in 2019 using Vigilant Solutions automated license plate readers. Vendor: Vigilant Solutions.
Jersey Village Police Department
In 2018, the Jersey Village Police Department signed a $312,000 contract with Flock Safety for 48 automated license plate readers. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Memorial Villages Police Department
The Memorial Village Police Department has installed Flock automated license plate readers as part of its "Virtual Gateway" program. Vendor: Flock Safety.
University of Houston Parking and Transporation Services
University of Houston Parking and Transporation Services implemented automated license plate readers in 2018.
Katy Police Department
The Katy Police Department installed 22 Flock Safety automated license plate readers in 2020. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Bellaire Police Department
The Bellaire Police Department started a pilot program with 10 Flock automated license plate readers in 2020. 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.
The map shows where the readers are and which way they face. BanditKin's navigation turns that into a routing preference: opt-in, field-of-view-aware, with a slider for how hard to try — and an honest fallback when no clean route exists.
This page is part of the Texas 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 Houston? Search the full map by any city.
ALPR camera maps for nearby and related cities: Dallas, TX · Fort Worth, TX · Austin, TX · San Antonio, TX · Baton Rouge, LA · New Orleans, LA · Little Rock, AR · Oklahoma City, OK · Tulsa, OK.
Get BanditKin on Google PlayHouston ALPR questions
How many Flock cameras does Houston have?
Public map data records 3,759 ALPR cameras around metro Houston as of 3 September 2026, run by 43 separate operators. 3,271 are tagged Flock Safety. That count is a floor, not a full inventory: cameras appear on the map as people map them, and 464 carry no manufacturer tag at all.
Where are Flock cameras in Houston?
The live map above shows 3,759 mapped ALPR cameras around metro Houston, 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 Houston?
Houston Police Department is the largest mapped operator with 1,877 cameras, ahead of Harris County Sheriff's Office's 411. Beyond them the network spreads across 42 other operators. The EFF Atlas of Surveillance documents 25 agencies across this area.
Can I avoid Flock cameras when driving in Houston?
Avoidance runs off recorded bearings, and Houston has 3,604 of 3,759 mapped cameras with one. BanditKin's navigation can route around them: it is opt-in, field-of-view-aware, and has a strength slider you control. Where no camera-free route exists it says so plainly and falls back to the normal route. This is a privacy preference — choosing not to be logged by a commercial surveillance network on public roads — and it works from public camera-location data.
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.