Flock & ALPR Cameras in West Des Moines, Iowa
Volunteers have reported 36 automated license plate readers in and around West Des Moines — cameras that log every passing plate with a time and location.
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No new reports near West Des Moines in the last 30 days — checked hourly, last checked Oct 9, 03:14 UTC. Cameras only get on the map when someone looks: be the one.
Where the cameras are in West Des Moines
The readers mapped around West Des Moines break down as 35 Flock Safety, 1 of unrecorded make. Named operators in the reports: West Des Moines Police Department, Lowe's. The first camera here was reported in Apr 2025; the most recent in Aug 2026.
- Mills Civic Parkway — 11 readers
- Stagecoach Road — 3 readers
- South 68th Street — 3 readers
- South Jordan Creek Parkway — 3 readers
- Levee Trail — 3 readers
- Lincoln Street — 3 readers
- South 64th Street — 2 readers
- South Prairie View Drive — 1 reader
- South 60th Street — 1 reader
- Coachlight Drive — 1 reader
- Market Street — 1 reader
- Wild Rose Lane — 1 reader
+ 3 more streets and roads mapped around West Des Moines — all on the live map above.
West Des Moines IA PD and the sharing network
Per Flock’s own transparency portal, West Des Moines IA PD runs 57 cameras of its own, has logged 268 plate-database searches, has captured 461,107 vehicle records. Its network connects to 1,359 other agencies — a plate read here can surface in searches far beyond city limits.
Connected agencies include: Abbotsford WI PD, Acworth GA PD, Ada County ID SO, Ada OK PD, Adairville KY PD, Adams County IL SO, Adams County IN SO, Adams County WA SO.
West Des Moines in the Polk County picture
Polk County has 161 reported cameras county-wide and ranks #951 of 3,222 U.S. counties for cameras per resident. That’s across 497,441 residents and 2,286 road miles. By road density that is 0.07 cameras per road mile, in the top 8.3% of counties nationally.
Where contributors recorded what a camera watches, the split here is 36 traffic. Operators named on the record: West Des Moines Police Department (31), Lowe's (1).
Camera activity around West Des Moines, last 30 days
1 newly reported in our hourly change log for West Des Moines. Latest change logged Aug 19, 2026.
What’s watching West Des Moines
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 West Des Moines — here’s where that data goes. Counts cover cameras reported closest to West Des Moines (within ~20 km), so nearby towns share the same corridors. Spot one that’s missing? Report it on DeFlock.
The latest around West Des Moines
- 8 license plate readers reported removed near West Des Moines, IA
- West Des Moines leaders address concerns over Flock cameras
- Starfish, stingrays and sharks are coming to West Des Moines at Blue Zoo
What you can do in West Des Moines
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 West Des Moines
← All Iowa cameras, counties & cities
Camera reports: the open-source DeFlock project. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY).