Flock & ALPR Cameras in Ames, Iowa
Volunteers have reported 41 automated license plate readers in and around Ames — cameras that log every passing plate with a time and location.
Jurisdiction · by recorded street address
The 41 cameras counted on this page are every reader mapped within about 20 kilometres of Ames, so the count crosses municipal lines. By the street address recorded for each one, 39 of them sit inside Ames itself.
The rest sit in Colfax Township (1), Grant Township (1).
30 of them name an operator in the record: Iowa State University Police Department (24), Lowe's (3), Story County Sheriff's Department (2), Westport Station Office Park (1). 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.
Need this city’s camera data? Custom extracts are free for researchers, journalists and advocates. Ask for it.
- Sep 13 Flock Safety camera newly reported
- Sep 13 Flock Safety camera newly reported
Newly reported by volunteers — cameras may have been up long before someone mapped them.
Where the cameras are in Ames
The readers mapped around Ames break down as 39 Flock Safety. Named operators in the reports: Iowa State University Police Department, Lowe's, Story County Sheriff's Department, Westport Station Office Park. The first camera here was reported in Apr 2025; the most recent in Aug 2026.
- Jack Trice Way — 4 readers
- 6th Street — 3 readers
- 13th Street — 3 readers
- Stange Road — 3 readers
- Union Drive — 3 readers
- University Boulevard Trail — 2 readers
- University Boulevard — 2 readers
- Airport Road — 2 readers
- Mortensen Road — 2 readers
- Pammel Drive — 2 readers
- Colfax Township — 1 reader
- Center Drive — 1 reader
+ 11 more streets and roads mapped around Ames — all on the live map above.
Ames in the Story County picture
Story County has 36 reported cameras county-wide and ranks #838 of 3,222 U.S. counties for cameras per resident. That’s across 98,592 residents and 1,119 road miles. By road density that is 0.03 cameras per road mile, in the top 19.6% of counties nationally.
Where contributors recorded what a camera watches, the split here is 33 traffic, 2 street, 1 parking. Operators named on the record: Iowa State University Police Department (24), Lowe's (3), Story County Sheriff's Department (2).
Camera activity around Ames, last 30 days
2 newly reported in our hourly change log for Ames. Latest change logged Aug 14, 2026.
What’s watching Ames
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 Ames — here’s where that data goes. Counts cover cameras reported closest to Ames (within ~20 km), so nearby towns share the same corridors. Spot one that’s missing? Report it on DeFlock.
The latest around Ames
- 2 new license plate readers reported around Ames, IA
- 2 new license plate readers reported around Ames, IA
- Touch tank off limits after deaths of Dubuque aquarium's stingrays
What you can do in Ames
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 Ames
← All Iowa cameras, counties & cities
Camera reports: the open-source DeFlock project. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY).