Flock cameras & license plate readers in Detroit, MI
Volunteers have mapped 740 fixed license plate readers within 10 miles of downtown Detroit in OpenStreetMap, and 478 (65%) are tagged as Flock Safety cameras. That puts Detroit at #11 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 1,754. Within 5 miles it's 231.
Who makes them
Manufacturers as tagged by mappers, within 10 miles:
| Manufacturer | Mapped | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Safety | 478 | 65% |
| Motorola Solutions | 195 | 26% |
| Genetec | 52 | 7% |
| Axis Communications | 10 | 1% |
| Avigilon | 4 | 1% |
| Not tagged | 1 | 0% |
Who runs them
669 of the 740 mapped readers (90%) have an operator recorded. 738 are tagged as public (government) cameras and 2 as private, such as store parking lots or HOAs.
- Detroit Police Department: 412
- Dearborn Police Department: 49
- River Rouge Police Department: 28
- Lincoln Park Police Department: 21
- Highland Park Police Department: 16
- Hamtramck Police Department: 15
- Melvindale Police Department: 14
- Michigan State Police: 11
Where they're mounted
Where mappers noted a mount, cameras sit on poles (379), post (172), street lights (86) and traffic signal (53). 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: 36
- Traffic-monitoring cameras: 49
- Speed/red-light cameras: 0
Check a Detroit route
See how many mapped readers sit on a specific drive:
Michigan license plate reader law
NCSL identified no Michigan statute that expressly addresses license plate readers. Local agency policies still apply. Source: NCSL, Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes (summary, not legal advice; check the statute itself).
To find out which agencies around Detroit 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
- Cleveland, OH: 654 within 10 mi (90 mi away)
All of Michigan → · All city maps → · What are Flock cameras?
Frequently asked questions
How many Flock cameras are in Detroit, MI?
As of October 29, 2026, OpenStreetMap has 478 Flock Safety cameras mapped within 10 miles of downtown Detroit, out of 740 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 Detroit?
Open the live map of Detroit 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 Michigan?
NCSL identified no Michigan statute that expressly addresses license plate readers. (Summary of NCSL's state-statutes table; not legal advice.)
Can this tell me if my car is being tracked in Detroit?
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 (42.331, -83.046), from the October 29, 2026 snapshot. Circles overlap neighboring cities. Method and limits.
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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.