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Plate readers © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · © OpenMapTiles
Minnesota has 1,708 mapped plate readers. 1,480 carry the Flock Safety tag. Most don't say who runs them.
Cottage Grove has the most (145), then Woodbury (103) and Minneapolis (63). The first Flock-tagged one was mapped Nov 12, 2024. A plate reader keeps a record of each car that passes.
See who runs them · Cameras in Minnesota · What is a Flock camera? · Flock cameras in the US · Plate reader maps compared
Flock cameras in Minnesota by city
A city links to its own page once enough readers are mapped there.
Plate readers mapped in Minnesota each month
Plate readers of any maker added to the map each month, not only Flock-tagged ones. Lighter bars are estimates from the first-mapped dates of current points.
CamsAhead started its daily change log on October 22, 2026. How the map changed.
Flock-tagged readers first mapped each month
Each row counts the Flock-tagged readers first mapped that month, newest first. Months with none are left out. Each one carries the date it was first mapped.
| Month | First mapped that month | Top cities |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 120 | 32 in Woodbury and 19 in Maplewood |
| Sep 2026 | 173 | 87 in Cottage Grove and 23 in Woodbury |
| Aug 2026 | 162 | 21 in Cottage Grove and 21 in Woodbury |
| Jul 2026 | 90 | 5 in Blaine and 5 in Bloomington |
| Jun 2026 | 52 | 8 in Minneapolis and 2 in Burnsville |
| May 2026 | 55 | 12 in Redwood Falls and 8 in Cottage Grove |
| Apr 2026 | 68 | 12 in Stillwater and 10 in Lakeville |
| Mar 2026 | 58 | 9 in Cottage Grove and 7 in Grand Rapids |
| Feb 2026 | 44 | 4 in Osseo and 3 in Eden Prairie |
| Jan 2026 | 98 | 9 in North Oaks and 8 in Owatonna |
| Dec 2025 | 267 | 20 in Fridley and 19 in Edina |
| Nov 2025 | 92 | 11 in Minneapolis and 9 in Brooklyn Park |
Who runs the Flock cameras in Minnesota
Most don't say who runs them. The EFF's Atlas of Surveillance lists 81 agencies in Minnesota that use plate readers.
- Private operators, not named 31
- Elk River Police Department 14
- Wright County Sheriffs Office 14
- Faribault Police Department 10
- Edina Police Department 8
- Roseville Police Department 8
- Dakota County Sheriff's Office 7
- Eagan 7
- Hopkins PD 7
- Rogers Police Department 7
Plate reader law in Minnesota
| Topic | Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Status | Law |
| Law | Minn. Stat. § 13.824 (also § 626.8472) |
| What it does | Limits what plate readers may collect, requires most data to be destroyed within 60 days, bars a central state database, restricts sharing, and requires public logs, a public list of fixed readers and independent audits. |
| How long it is kept | 60 days for data not related to an active criminal investigation (subd. 3(a)) |
| Who it can be shared with | Data not related to an active criminal investigation may be shared with another law enforcement agency only under the subd. 7 access standards, and not with or sold to anyone else unless law allows (subd. 4) |
| Public record? | 'private data on individuals or nonpublic data' unless public under § 13.82 (subd. 2(b)) |
| Owner access | Not stated in § 13.824. The data are 'private data on individuals'; § 13.04, subd. 3 lets the subject of such data see it |
| Public records law | Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. ch. 13 |
| Checked |
See Minnesota plate reader law next to the other states.
Flock cameras in Minnesota: questions
How many Flock cameras are in Minnesota?
1,480 plate readers tagged Flock Safety are on the map in Minnesota, as of November 7, 2026. The real number may be higher or lower: the map shows only the cameras mapped so far.
Which cities in Minnesota have the most Flock cameras?
By mapped count: Cottage Grove (145), Woodbury (103) and Minneapolis (63). The city list on this page shows each city with a Flock-tagged reader.
Is each mapped camera still there?
Not always. A point shows where someone mapped a camera. 3 of the 1,480 carry a date when a volunteer last checked them on the ground.
Minnesota's plate reader data
From OpenStreetMap, under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0. A free copy goes to anyone who asks: how it is made and how to ask.
Know when cameras in Minnesota change.
Free email alerts for new plate readers mapped near your places. One summary email a month.
- When a plate reader is first mapped near you
- New cameras mapped or reported near you
- What plate readers keep, and who runs them
- Your street, your distance, the camera types you pick
1,708 cameras listed or mapped in Minnesota so far.
Sources and updates
How this page was made: CamsAhead writes each page type once, then fills it with this place's data from the sources below.
- OpenStreetMap contributors: plate readers, data as of Nov 7, 2026; ODbL 1.0
- EFF Atlas of Surveillance: agencies that use plate readers, data as of Aug 2026; CC BY 4.0
- Minn. Stat. § 13.824 (also § 626.8472): plate reader law, checked Oct 25, 2026
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: public records law, checked Oct 25, 2026
Plate reader points are mapped by OpenStreetMap volunteers (data as of November 7, 2026).
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