Flock & ALPR cameras in Iowa
Public map data records 985 ALPR cameras inside Iowa's borders as of 3 September 2026, run by 102 different operators. The densest cluster is Des Moines, at 280 mapped cameras. See every camera, which way it faces and its approximate capture zone — free, no account.
Iowa records 985 mapped plate readers across 102 operators. Cedar Rapids Police Department runs the largest share at 8%, ahead of West Des Moines Police Department on 60. Every count on this page is measured inside the state line, so it's a floor for the state — not an estimate stitched together from overlapping city boxes. 192 of the 985 cameras carry no operator at all, so the operator shares above are shares of the attributed cameras.
Open the live camera mapWhich Iowa cities have Flock cameras?
Camera counts for Iowa's main metro areas, read from public map data on 3 September 2026.
Des Moines
280 cameras
Davenport
158 cameras
Cedar Rapids
153 cameras
Iowa City
135 cameras
Sioux City
80 cameras
Metro figures are read as bounding boxes around each city centre, so neighbouring metros can overlap and the boxes reach past city limits — never add them up. The state total above is counted inside the state boundary instead, which is why it is the number to quote.
The largest ALPR operators in Iowa
Who runs Iowa's plate readers — the top eight of 102 operators.
Cedar Rapids Police Department
79 cameras
West Des Moines Police Department
60 cameras
Altoona Police Department
41 cameras
Marshalltown Police Department
36 cameras
Dubuque Police Department
29 cameras
University of Iowa Police Department
26 cameras
Council Bluffs Police Department
25 cameras
Urbandale Police Department
25 cameras
102 separate bodies operate mapped readers in Iowa. Cedar Rapids Police Department leads with 79; West Des Moines Police Department runs 60. Of the cameras carrying a recorded operator type, 332 are municipal police, 73 are sheriff's offices and 3 are private.
Attribution is inferred from jurisdiction for 405 cameras and recorded directly for the rest. Counts are a floor: cameras appear on the map as people map them.
It isn't all Flock in Iowa
Which companies built the readers, and how many can be avoided by direction.
Flock Safety
891 cameras
Axis Communications
23 cameras
Motorola Solutions
14 cameras
Neology
13 cameras
Genetec
9 cameras
Vendor tags exist for 955 of Iowa's cameras, and Flock Safety takes 93% of those — but Axis Communications runs 23, which is why the map reads 'ALPR', not just 'Flock'.
Where a mount is recorded, Iowa's cameras sit on: pole (400), street lamp (44), gantry (1). 927 of the 985 cameras have a recorded facing direction, which is what makes route avoidance possible — a camera with no bearing shows on the map but can't be avoided with any precision.
Documented ALPR programs in Iowa
Records-based sources document 33 agencies running plate readers in Iowa, against 102 operators visible on the map. Where the Atlas has a documented program and the map has few cameras, the cameras are likely there and simply not yet mapped.
Cedar Rapids Police Department — Linn County
The Cedar Rapids Police Department installed 70 stationary automated license plate readers in March 2025 as part of a $499,250, two-year contract with Flock Safety. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Des Moines Police Department — Polk County
The Des Moines Police Department has used automated license plate readers since at least 2017.
Davenport Police Department — Scott County
The Davenport Police Department began using automated license plate readers in 2019 and spent $200,000 to expand the program in May 2020.
University of Iowa Parking and Transportation — Johnson County
University of Iowa Parking and Transportation uses automated license plate readers for parking enforcement.
Altoona Police Department — Polk County
As of April 2024, the Altoona Police Department operates 20 Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Ankeny Police Department — Polk County
The Ankeny Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers. Vendor: Flock Safety.
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Atlas of Surveillance. Summaries are the Atlas's own wording, trimmed to a complete sentence.
Iowa ALPR questions
How many Flock cameras are there in Iowa?
985 mapped cameras inside the state line as of 3 September 2026. That is a true in-state count, not a sum of overlapping city areas — and still a floor, because unmapped cameras don't appear.
Which cities in Iowa have Flock cameras?
The largest clusters are around Des Moines (280), Davenport (158), Cedar Rapids (153), Iowa City (135), Sioux City (80). Smaller IA towns appear on the live map too — these are simply the biggest metro areas.
Who operates ALPR cameras in Iowa?
102 operators in total. The largest is Cedar Rapids Police Department with 79 mapped cameras, then West Des Moines Police Department with 60. Of cameras with a recorded operator type, 332 are police, 73 are sheriff's offices and 3 are privately run.
Are all the plate readers in Iowa made by Flock?
No. Flock Safety is tagged on 891 of 955 vendor-recorded cameras (93%); Axis Communications accounts for 23, and 30 cameras have no vendor recorded at all. 'Flock camera' is the common name, but the map covers every ALPR it can find.
Can I avoid Flock cameras when driving in Iowa?
BanditKin's navigation offers opt-in, field-of-view-aware camera avoidance with a strength slider, using the 927 Iowa cameras that have a recorded facing direction. If no camera-free route exists it says so and falls back to the normal route. Preferring not to be logged by a commercial surveillance network is a privacy preference — the app uses public camera-location data.