Last checked: October 30, 2026 (America/Los_Angeles). Visit Glendale CA is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with the City of Glendale or Flock Safety. This page covers Glendale, California only. Every claim below links to a public source. If something is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
People ask how many Flock license-plate cameras Glendale runs, what they capture, and where they sit. Below: official counts from city council reporting, what GPD says the cameras do and don’t do, a crowdsourced map of ALPR pins inside city limits, and — lower on the page — separate notes on speed cameras, red lights, and other city cameras.
Quick answers · How many Flock · What they capture · Retention & sharing · Policy & law · Council timeline · Where are they? (map) · Other cameras · FAQs · Sources
Quick answers
Does Glendale have Flock cameras?
Yes. Glendale Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license-plate readers (ALPRs). The city has been a Flock customer since 2020; GPD has used ALPR technology for about 20 years.
Sources: City of Glendale — Flock Safety · Glendale News-Press (Oct. 3, 2026)
How many Flock cameras?
About 82 operating as of the Sept. 22, 2026 City Council briefing, generating roughly 1.2 million plate reads per month. The city had also paid and permitted for 40 more that were not yet deployed. A third-party reading of GPD’s Flock transparency portal (dated Sept. 4, 2026) listed 92 cameras — a different snapshot; both figures are shown so you can check the sources.
Sources: Hey SoCal (Sept. 26, 2026) · Glendale News-Press · Portal aggregator (EyesOnFlock read) · GPD Flock transparency portal
Where are Glendale’s Flock cameras?
No official public pin map from the city. Our interactive map plots 65 crowdsourced OpenStreetMap ALPR pins inside Glendale city limits (volunteer-mapped; unverified). Those pins are not a city inventory — see the map note for details.
Speed cameras / red lights?
Separate from Flock. Glendale has a planned AB 645 speed-safety pilot (nine corridors; warnings targeted for 2027). No traditional red-light ticket program was found. Details in Other cameras in Glendale.
How many Flock cameras?
Public sources give more than one Flock-related number. They are not always measuring the same thing:
| Figure | What it means | Source / date |
|---|---|---|
| 82 operating | GPD Flock ALPRs in service (~1.2M plate reads/month) | City Council briefing, Sept. 22, 2026 |
| 40 more paid/permitted | Not yet deployed as of that briefing | Same council briefing |
| 92 on portal snapshot | Third-party reading of the Flock transparency portal | EyesOnFlock / aggregator, Sept. 4, 2026 |
| 65 OSM pins in city limits | Crowdsourced ALPR nodes inside the city boundary (65 Flock-tagged or described). Not an official list; may be incomplete or outdated. | OpenStreetMap extract filtered to city limits (this page) |
Private Flock units (e.g. Americana at Brand and Glendale Galleria parking, plus some HOA-purchased cameras) are separate from GPD’s operating count unless a later city record says otherwise.
Sources: News-Press Oct. 2026 · Hey SoCal · Portal aggregator · OSM / ODbL
What Flock cameras capture — and what they don’t
According to Police Chief Robert William’s Sept. 22, 2026 council presentation (as reported by local news):
They capture: a still photo of a vehicle’s rear license plate and the vehicle, plus date, time, and location, when motion sensors trigger the camera.
They do not (per GPD): record video or audio; issue traffic tickets; measure speed; provide continuous live monitoring of a feed; or track a vehicle’s movement as a navigation trail. The chief also said a plate photo alone does not identify the registered owner — that lookup is a separate system (CLETS).
GPD’s city Flock page describes two uses: retroactive search after crimes and real-time hotlist alerts for vehicles of interest.
Sources: Glendale News-Press · Crescenta Valley Weekly · City Flock page
Retention, audits, and data sharing
- Retention: GPD says captured Flock data is kept 30 days (AWS GovCloud), then automatically deleted, with an auditable deletion trace. The transparency portal’s published retention figure matches 30 days (aggregator reading).
- Access: Authorized personnel with an investigative purpose; RTIC operators use two-factor authentication (per earlier GPD statements). GPD said there is not a hardwired permanent live Flock feed in the RTIC — operators watch hotlist alerts.
- Audits: GPD reported biweekly internal audits and no misuse found to date (council presentation).
- Sharing: Partner California agencies request access; the chief or a designee approves; partners are listed on the transparency portal. News coverage of the Sept. 2026 meeting cited sharing with more than 300 agencies; the portal aggregator listed 323. GPD said partners may currently use data for any official criminal investigation, and that finer filters are a capability Flock has been expanding.
- Out-of-state / federal: GPD states that under SB 34 and department policy it does not share Flock data with out-of-state or federal agencies, and that the technology is not used for immigration enforcement or reproductive-health enforcement.
Sources: News-Press · Hey SoCal · Transparency portal · Portal aggregator
The policy and California law (SB 34)
California’s ALPR rules come mainly from Senate Bill 34 (2015), codified at Civil Code §§ 1798.90.5–1798.90.55. In plain terms, operators must:
- Maintain security practices for ALPR data
- Publish a usage and privacy policy covering authorized purposes, who may access the system, monitoring, sharing rules, accuracy, and retention/destruction
- Share or transfer ALPR information only to another California public agency, and only as otherwise permitted by law — not to private parties for general use, and not to federal or out-of-state agencies under the statute’s “public agency” definition
The California Attorney General’s 2023-DLE-06 bulletin restates that federal and out-of-state law enforcement are outside SB 34’s “public agency” definition. In October 2025 the AG sued the City of El Cajon over alleged out-of-state ALPR sharing — statewide context, not a Glendale case.
GPD publishes a Flock transparency page and an Issuu document titled “Transparency Regarding Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Technology” (posted Apr. 1, 2026 on Issuu). Readers should open the city’s own pages for the current policy text.
Sources: Civ. Code § 1798.90.51 · AG bulletin 2023-DLE-06 (PDF) · AG — El Cajon suit (Oct. 3, 2025) · GPD ALPR transparency (Issuu)
Council history timeline (Flock)
- ~2020: City becomes a Flock customer (GPD/council statements, 2026).
- 2022: U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance award of $16,333 cited for Flock ALPR expansion (Atlas of Surveillance / AreYouFlocked record). Full multi-year contract price not located in sources reviewed for this page.
- Aug. 25, 2025 (approx. coverage): Councilmember Dan Brotman asks to agendize Flock data-sharing, retention, camera counts, and audits.
- Nov. 2024: GPD Real Time Intelligence Center opens (city/ABC7) — related to city cameras broadly, not Flock-only.
- Sept. 22, 2026: Lengthy City Council Flock discussion. Public comment mostly critical. No vote to expand, cancel, or terminate. Staff directed to return with privacy/control options. Chief reports 82 cameras + 40 permitted undeployed.
Where are the cameras?
Flock ALPRs — no official public pin list
GPD has not published a street-by-street public map of Flock cameras. At council, the chief said location decisions typically run through the Special Investigations Bureau lieutenant and command staff, using crime patterns, traffic, and investigative needs — not a public address list.
The map below plots 65 ALPR nodes from OpenStreetMap that fall inside Glendale’s city limits. Explore also on DeFlock and AreYouFlocked — Glendale (AreYouFlocked previously reported 74 mapped points as of its Aug. 7, 2026 database update; our boundary-filtered extract shows 65 — counts differ by source and date).
- These locations come from volunteer mapping on OpenStreetMap (also shown on DeFlock / AreYouFlocked). They are not an official City of Glendale or GPD list.
- Pins may be incomplete, outdated, misplaced, or private (mall/HOA). A pin inside city limits is not proof the City owns or operates that camera.
- The city reports 82 operating Flock cameras (Sept. 22, 2026 council briefing) — a different number from this crowdsourced map.
- Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Boundary filter: U.S. Census 2023 place GEOID 0630000, cross-checked with OSM relation 2313082.
- See an error? Tell us and we will correct it.
© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Crowdsourced, unverified. Not an official city map.
Other cameras in Glendale
Flock ALPRs are not the only cameras people mean when they ask “how many cameras does Glendale have?” These programs are separate:
AB 645 speed safety cameras (planned)
A pilot is planned — not the same as Flock. Under California AB 645, Glendale selected nine street segments for speed safety cameras (vendor: Verra Mobility). The city’s engagement site lists installation and a 60-day warning period in January 2027, with enforcement notices starting March 2027 (dates can change).
Nine public corridors in city materials (final pole placement can shift):
- Glendale Ave: Monterey Rd to Verdugo Rd
- Brand Blvd: Magnolia Ave to Maple St
- Glenoaks Blvd: Kenilworth Ave to Central Ave
- San Fernando Rd: California Ave to Colorado St
- Glenoaks Blvd: Rosedale Ave to Cleveland Rd
- Glenoaks Blvd: Allen Ave to Ruberta Ave
- Brand Blvd: Harvard St to Lexington Dr
- Central Ave: Broadway to Doran Ave
- Chevy Chase Dr: Lilac Ln to Sinclair Ave
Sources: Glendale Speed Safety Program (engagement) · City project page · TPC packet / Impact Report · Verra Mobility announcement
Red-light cameras
No traditional red-light ticket program was found in the city materials reviewed for this page. Do not confuse red-light systems with Flock ALPRs or AB 645 speed cameras.
RTIC, PTZ, and public-space cameras
- Non-LPR PTZ: GPD previously described “36 or so” regular pan/tilt/zoom cameras without facial or plate recognition (Aug. 2025 reporting); being phased out / replaced.
- RTIC: Opened Nov. 2024; pulls from “hundreds” of traffic/police feeds (ABC7).
- Public-space expansion (planned): A July 2026 federal-funding announcement described expanding city-owned public-space cameras from about 44 to roughly 90–100 — planned, not confirmed as installed.
Sources: News-Press (GPD stance) · ABC7 RTIC · Federal award coverage
Flock vs speed vs red light vs RTIC
| System | Main job | Tickets? | Typical data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flock ALPR | Investigative plate reads + hotlist alerts | No (per GPD) | Still plate/vehicle photo, time, location; ~30-day retention |
| AB 645 speed safety | Civil speed enforcement on selected streets | Yes — civil fines after warning period | Rear plate when ≥11 mph over limit; no occupant photos; strict sharing limits under Vehicle Code |
| Red-light cameras | Intersection red-light enforcement | N/A in Glendale (none found) | — |
| RTIC / public-space video | Live video support for patrol & investigations | Not a ticket camera | Traffic and other camera feeds; separate from Flock LPR stills |
FAQs
Can I look up who searched my plate?
The public transparency portal publishes aggregate stats (and partner lists), not a self-service “was my plate searched?” tool. Audit logs are internal. Public-records requests are the formal route; outcomes vary.
Did the City Council ban or expand Flock in September 2026?
Neither. The council received the police presentation, heard public comment, and directed staff to come back with tighter privacy/control options. No final vote to cancel or expand was reported.
Are mall cameras the same as city Flock cameras?
Not necessarily. The police chief said the Americana and Galleria operate their own Flock cameras for parking. Those are separate from GPD’s network count unless a later city record says otherwise.
Is the map on this page official?
No. It is crowdsourced OpenStreetMap / DeFlock data, labeled unverified. The city has not published an official Flock pin map.
Will speed cameras share data like Flock?
AB 645 / Vehicle Code rules for speed safety systems are much tighter on disclosure: city policy materials say data is not shared with other departments or outside entities except as required by law, court order, or subpoena in an individual case. That is a different legal regime from ALPR sharing under SB 34.
Sources
- City of Glendale — Flock Safety transparency page
- Flock Safety — Glendale CA PD Transparency Portal
- everythingisperfect — Glendale portal read (EyesOnFlock, 2026-09-04)
- Hey SoCal — council Flock coverage (Sept. 26, 2026)
- Glendale News-Press — Police chief updates council (Oct. 3, 2026)
- Crescenta Valley Weekly — Privacy Issues and Flock Cameras (Sept. 24, 2026)
- Glendale News-Press — GPD stance on Flock
- GPD — Transparency Regarding ALPR Technology (Issuu)
- California Civil Code § 1798.90.51 (SB 34)
- CA DOJ Information Bulletin 2023-DLE-06 (PDF)
- CA AG — El Cajon ALPR sharing lawsuit (Oct. 3, 2025)
- City of Glendale — Speed Safety Program (AB 645)
- Glendale Speed Safety Program engagement site
- TPC Feb. 24, 2025 compiled documents (Impact Report / Use Policy / locations)
- Verra Mobility — Glendale & Long Beach selection
- ABC7 — RTIC opening
- Coverage of July 2026 federal public-space camera funding
- AreYouFlocked — Glendale (crowdsourced OSM pins)
- DeFlock maps · OpenStreetMap copyright (ODbL) · DeFlock terms
Last checked: October 30, 2026 (America/Los_Angeles).
Spot an error? Contact us and we’ll correct it. Visit Glendale CA publishes public, factual information and edits mistakes as soon as we’re aware of them.