Flock & ALPR Cameras in Chicago Loop, Illinois
Volunteers have reported 188 automated license plate readers in and around Chicago Loop — cameras that log every passing plate with a time and location.
Jurisdiction · by recorded street address
The 188 cameras counted on this page are every reader mapped within about 20 kilometres of Chicago Loop, so the count crosses municipal lines. By the street address recorded for each one, 0 of them sit inside Chicago Loop itself.
The rest sit in Chicago (188).
43 of them name an operator in the record: Chicago Police Department (35), Illinois State Police (6), University of Illinois Chicago (2). The operator is who runs the camera, which is not always the local government.
Source: community-mapped camera data (OpenStreetMap, ODbL), with addresses resolved by Nominatim.
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- Sep 26 Leonardo camera newly reported
- Sep 26 Leonardo camera newly reported
- Sep 26 Genetec camera newly reported
- Sep 21 Axis Communications camera newly reported
Newly reported by volunteers — cameras may have been up long before someone mapped them.
📷 5 new license plate readers just reported around Chicago Loop, IL. Newly mapped by volunteers — see what's watching. #ALPR #Surveillance #ChicagoLoop
📷 140 new license plate readers just reported around Chicago Loop, IL. Newly mapped by volunteers — see what's watching. #ALPR #Surveillance #ChicagoLoop
Where the cameras are in Chicago Loop
The readers mapped around Chicago Loop break down as 44 of unrecorded make, 8 Motorola Solutions, 7 Flock Safety. Named operators in the reports: Chicago Police Department, Illinois State Police, University of Illinois Chicago. The first camera here was reported in Mar 2023; the most recent in Aug 2026.
- North Michigan Avenue — 6 readers
- West Grand Avenue — 5 readers
- West Randolph Street — 4 readers
- South DuSable Lake Shore Drive — 4 readers
- East Ida B. Wells Drive — 3 readers
- North Wabash Avenue — 2 readers
- Kennedy Expressway — 2 readers
- West Washington Street — 2 readers
- Washington Street Bikeway — 2 readers
- North Desplaines Street — 2 readers
- Harrison Street Bikeway — 2 readers
- South Lower Wacker Drive — 2 readers
+ 18 more streets and roads mapped around Chicago Loop — all on the live map above.
Chicago Loop in the Cook County picture
Cook County has 1,915 reported cameras county-wide and ranks #823 of 3,222 U.S. counties for cameras per resident. That’s across 5,185,812 residents and 9,668 road miles. By road density that is 0.20 cameras per road mile, in the top 1.2% of counties nationally.
Where contributors recorded what a camera watches, the split here is 51 traffic. Operators named on the record: Chicago Police Department (35), Illinois State Police (6), University of Illinois Chicago (2).
Camera activity around Chicago Loop, last 30 days
1 newly reported in our hourly change log for Chicago Loop. Latest change logged Aug 28, 2026.
What’s watching Chicago Loop
These aren’t red-light cameras. Automated license plate readers like Flock Safety’s photograph every plate that passes, log the time and place, and store it in a searchable database that’s often shared far beyond Chicago Loop — here’s where that data goes. Counts cover cameras reported closest to Chicago Loop (within ~20 km), so nearby towns share the same corridors. Spot one that’s missing? Report it on DeFlock.
The latest around Chicago Loop
- 3 new license plate readers reported around Chicago Loop, IL
- 22 license plate readers reported removed near Chicago Loop, IL
- 5 new license plate readers reported around Chicago Loop, IL
- 140 new license plate readers reported around Chicago Loop, IL
What you can do in Chicago Loop
Ask who approved these cameras, how long plate data is kept, and who it’s shared with. File a public records request, raise it at a council meeting, and see the full playbook on Take Action. Fighting this locally? Join or start a chapter and we’ll amplify you.
Not sure what one looks like? See photographs of installed cameras before you go looking.
Cameras near Chicago Loop
← All Illinois cameras, counties & cities
Camera reports: the open-source DeFlock project. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY).