Flock & ALPR Cameras in Chicago, Illinois
Volunteers have reported 8 automated license plate readers in and around Chicago — cameras that log every passing plate with a time and location.
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No new reports near Chicago in the last 30 days — checked hourly, last checked Oct 7, 10:25 UTC. Cameras only get on the map when someone looks: be the one.
Where the cameras are in Chicago
The readers mapped around Chicago break down as 3 Motorola Solutions, 2 Flock Safety, 1 of unrecorded make. The first camera here was reported in May 2025; the most recent in Sep 2026.
- Earl Neal Plaza — 2 readers
- South Canal Street — 1 reader
- West 18th Street — 1 reader
- West 26th Street — 1 reader
- South Halsted Street — 1 reader
- West 12th Place — 1 reader
- West Roosevelt Road — 1 reader
Chicago IL PD and the sharing network
Per Flock’s own transparency portal, Chicago IL PD appears in the sharing network with connections to 84 other agencies.
Chicago 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 7 traffic.
Camera activity around Chicago, last 30 days
2 newly reported in our hourly change log for Chicago. Latest change logged Sep 2, 2026.
What’s watching Chicago
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 — here’s where that data goes. Counts cover cameras reported closest to Chicago (within ~20 km), so nearby towns share the same corridors. Spot one that’s missing? Report it on DeFlock.
The latest around Chicago
- Former Chicago-area officers charged over alleged misuse of Flock cameras
- Column: We should endorse license readers snooping on our behalf
- Early Voting for November General Election Kicks Off Thursday in Downtown Chicago
- Watch Illinois push to regulate Flock cameras raises surveillance concerns - FOX LOCAL Chicago
What you can do in Chicago
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
← All Illinois cameras, counties & cities
Camera reports: the open-source DeFlock project. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY).