LAS VEGAS — Hundreds of automated license plate readers are watching traffic across the Las Vegas Valley, capturing vehicle information that police can search within seconds. Known widely as Flock cameras, the devices help officers locate stolen vehicles, identify cars connected to serious crimes and develop leads that once took detectives days to find. Yet their rapid expansion has moved faster than public debate, leaving residents with questions about where the cameras are located, who can access the records and whether meaningful safeguards prevent misuse.
What Flock Cameras Record
Flock Safety cameras are automated license plate readers, or ALPRs. They photograph a vehicle’s plate and record its appearance, direction, location and time. Flock says the cameras do not use facial recognition.
Alerts flag plates connected to stolen vehicles or wanted people. Investigators can search records after a crime. However, an alert is not proof that the driver committed an offense. Officers should verify the plate before making a stop.
These cameras are not red-light or speed-enforcement cameras, and they do not automatically issue traffic citations. Their purpose is to capture vehicle information, compare plates with law-enforcement databases and preserve searchable records for investigations.
Where the Cameras Are Located
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department operates about 200 Flock cameras throughout the valley. Metro uses other plate readers and can access more than 300 private cameras belonging to businesses, apartments and neighborhood groups.
The city of Las Vegas operates a separate network through its Department of Public Safety. A February 2026 review found 22 city cameras. Henderson Police announced 54 portable pole-mounted ALPR cameras in 2024.
Agencies do not publish a complete location list. One documented unit sits near Tropicana and Eastern avenues. Crowdsourced maps identify other cameras but may be incomplete.
Who Can Search the Network
Metro officers use Flock data for criminal investigations and wanted-vehicle alerts. Clark County School District Police have accessed the network through the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Foundation.
However, CCSD Police paused its Flock use while Chief Jeff Clark reviews procedures. Searches must relate to an assigned case and require approval from an Investigations Bureau lieutenant. Officials have not connected the pause to misuse.
Metro shares information with hundreds of law-enforcement agencies nationwide. Private donations funded many Metro cameras, limiting public budget hearings before the network expanded.
Metro’s 2023 agreement stated that recordings would not remain stored longer than 30 days. Flock has since recommended a seven-day default, although individual agencies may select different retention periods when local rules permit.
Has Your License Plate Been Searched
Drivers can enter their plate number at HaveIBeenFlocked.com to check available audit records gathered from public-records requests and agency transparency portals.
The results do not reveal every time a camera photographed or “flocked” a vehicle. Instead, they show whether an authorized user searched for that plate within available records. Results may identify the agency, date, reason or offense category. Coverage is incomplete because not every agency publishes audit logs.
The website says it does not save submitted plate numbers. However, drivers should review its privacy information before using the tool.
Have Las Vegas Officers Misused Flock
As of Aug. 29, NEWS NOW® found no confirmed or reported case of a Las Vegas Valley officer misusing Flock. Metro has said it knows of no local abuse. CCSD’s pause is a policy review, not a response to an identified case.
Still, no reported case does not confirm that supervisors examined every search. Metro policy prohibits searches based solely on citizenship, race, religion, social views or other protected classifications. Misuse can result in discipline or termination.
Every search creates an audit record, and Metro provides a public transparency portal. Nevertheless, residents cannot independently verify how frequently supervisors review searches, whether outside agencies follow Metro’s rules or how often camera alerts are incorrect.
Officers elsewhere have been fired, suspended or charged after allegedly using Flock to track partners, former partners, relatives or friends. Flock has since announced mandatory case codes, abnormal-search monitoring, account lockouts and a seven-day default retention period.
Flock cameras can help solve crimes. However, Las Vegas residents deserve independent audits, published data-sharing lists, accuracy checks and prompt disclosure of misuse. Until those safeguards become routine, proper local use remains partly a matter of departmental assurance rather than public proof.
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