The cameras are small, solar-powered and usually mounted on a pole at the edge of a road. Each photographs passing vehicles and uses computer vision to read the number plate and note other characteristics, such as make, colour and distinguishing features. The record goes into a searchable network that police can query when they are looking for a car.
Flock Safety, the Atlanta company that dominates this market in the United States, has spread its cameras to thousands of police agencies, many of them funded by federal grants. Sponsors of a new bill put the number of agencies with such licence-plate or biometric cameras at more than 7,000. Flock says its system supported more than a million investigations in 2025, from stolen cars to missing people.
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