Flock cameras & license plate readers in Des Moines, IA
Volunteers have mapped 222 fixed license plate readers within 10 miles of downtown Des Moines in OpenStreetMap, and 215 (97%) are tagged as Flock Safety cameras. That puts Des Moines at #56 of the 87 US cities we track for mapped plate readers near the city center. Widen the circle to 25 miles and the count is 280. Within 5 miles it's 14.
Who makes them
Manufacturers as tagged by mappers, within 10 miles:
| Manufacturer | Mapped | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Safety | 215 | 97% |
| Axon Enterprise | 4 | 2% |
| Not tagged | 3 | 1% |
Who runs them
155 of the 222 mapped readers (70%) have an operator recorded. 219 are tagged as public (government) cameras and 1 as private, such as store parking lots or HOAs.
- West Des Moines Police Department: 47
- Altoona Police Department: 32
- Urbandale Police Department: 22
- Clive Police Department: 17
- Johnston Police Department: 15
- Ankeny Police Department: 7
- Lowe's: 6
- Pleasant Hill Police Department: 5
Where they're mounted
Where mappers noted a mount, cameras sit on poles (91), traffic signal (46), street lights (29) and traffic signals (1). 100% have a mapped facing direction, which our route check uses to estimate whether a camera faces your direction of travel.
Other cameras mapped nearby
- Public/outdoor CCTV: 6
- Traffic-monitoring cameras: 1
- Speed/red-light cameras: 1
Check a Des Moines route
See how many mapped readers sit on a specific drive:
Iowa license plate reader law
Iowa Code §321P.4 requires plate images and related data to be deleted within 30 days unless they're relevant to an ongoing case. Source: NCSL, Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes (summary, not legal advice; check the statute itself).
To find out which agencies around Des Moines use ALPRs, search the EFF Atlas of Surveillance or follow our records-request guide. Spot a camera that isn't on the map? Add it via DeFlock.
Nearby city maps
- Omaha, NE: 115 within 10 mi (122 mi away)
All of Iowa → · All city maps → · What are Flock cameras?
Frequently asked questions
How many Flock cameras are in Des Moines, IA?
As of October 29, 2026, OpenStreetMap has 215 Flock Safety cameras mapped within 10 miles of downtown Des Moines, out of 222 mapped license plate readers in total. Mapping is volunteer-driven and incomplete, so treat this as a minimum, not an exact count.
Where are the license plate readers in Des Moines?
Open the live map of Des Moines on this site to see every mapped reader as a red dot. Zoom in for street-level positions, and toggle CCTV, traffic and speed-camera layers. Positions come from OpenStreetMap volunteers and may be off.
Is it legal to use license plate readers in Iowa?
Iowa Code §321P.4 requires plate images and related data to be deleted within 30 days unless they're relevant to an ongoing case. (Summary of NCSL's state-statutes table; not legal advice.)
Can this tell me if my car is being tracked in Des Moines?
No. It shows where mapped cameras are. It can't see whether a camera captured your plate or whether anyone searched for it.
How we count: OSM nodes tagged surveillance:type=ALPR within a straight-line radius of the city coordinates (41.587, -93.625), from the October 29, 2026 snapshot. Circles overlap neighboring cities. Method and limits.
Protect yourself
Shrink the rest of your data trail
Data-broker removal
Private payments
Encrypted connection
All privacy tools and what they do (and don’t) protect →
Disclosure: Some of these may become affiliate links, meaning we could earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never changes the counts or scores. We list legal privacy tools only. We will never promote plate covers, plate-obscuring products or anything meant to evade police, and none of these tools stop license-plate readers.