Flock cameras & license plate readers in Richmond, VA
Volunteers have mapped 316 fixed license plate readers within 10 miles of downtown Richmond in OpenStreetMap, and 292 (92%) are tagged as Flock Safety cameras. That puts Richmond at #37 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 556. Within 5 miles it's 185.
Who makes them
Manufacturers as tagged by mappers, within 10 miles:
| Manufacturer | Mapped | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Safety | 292 | 92% |
| Leonardo | 22 | 7% |
| Not tagged | 2 | 1% |
Who runs them
181 of the 316 mapped readers (57%) have an operator recorded. 220 are tagged as public (government) cameras and 9 as private, such as store parking lots or HOAs.
- Henrico County Police Division: 82
- Richmond Police Department: 59
- Flock Safety: 17
- Lowe's: 14
- CCPD: 6
- Chesterfield County: 1
- Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office: 1
- Hanover County Sheriff's Office: 1
Where they're mounted
Where mappers noted a mount, cameras sit on poles (185), street lights (23), walls (16) and traffic signal (11). 91% 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: 279
- Traffic-monitoring cameras: 4
- Speed/red-light cameras: 5
Check a Richmond route
See how many mapped readers sit on a specific drive:
Virginia license plate reader law
Va. Code §2.2-5517 limits uses, requires a 21-day retention limit for system data, and makes willful misuse a Class 1 misdemeanor. Source: NCSL, Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes (summary, not legal advice; check the statute itself).
To find out which agencies around Richmond 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
- Virginia Beach, VA: 172 within 10 mi (93 mi away)
- Washington, DC: 409 within 10 mi (97 mi away)
- Baltimore, MD: 161 within 10 mi (129 mi away)
- Raleigh, NC: 251 within 10 mi (139 mi away)
All of Virginia → · All city maps → · What are Flock cameras?
Frequently asked questions
How many Flock cameras are in Richmond, VA?
As of October 29, 2026, OpenStreetMap has 292 Flock Safety cameras mapped within 10 miles of downtown Richmond, out of 316 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 Richmond?
Open the live map of Richmond 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 Virginia?
Va. Code §2.2-5517 limits uses, requires a 21-day retention limit for system data, and makes willful misuse a Class 1 misdemeanor. (Summary of NCSL's state-statutes table; not legal advice.)
Can this tell me if my car is being tracked in Richmond?
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 (37.541, -77.436), from the October 29, 2026 snapshot. Circles overlap neighboring cities. Method and limits.
Protect yourself
Shrink the rest of your data trail
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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.