Why we offer this resource
People should know how government watches their communities.
These maps are offered to make public information easier to find and understand. Nathan believes residents have a right to know how a government surveilles its people.
A roadside reader may capture a passing vehicle even when its driver is not under investigation. That raises the question how much information about the ordinary travel habits of people should government be allowed to collect and retain.
Why vehicle-location databases raise privacy concerns.
Automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, turn plate images into searchable records tied to a place and time. Repeated observations can reveal routines and visits to sensitive locations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that broad collection and searches of historical location data threaten privacy and association rights. Read EFF's explanation.
The public-safety case also deserves attention.
In its suspension announcement, Stevens Point described law-enforcement uses such as finding missing people and solving crimes. The City also cited concerns about data management and misuse. Those competing considerations make a transparent public discussion useful. Read the City's statement.
A surveillance concern does not establish that a particular search was unlawful or that evidence in a criminal case must be excluded. Those questions depend on the facts and applicable law.
How to read these maps.
Source: We retrieved public OpenStreetMap surveillance records through Overpass. DeFlock uses OpenStreetMap for its crowdsourced ALPR map; this resource uses that underlying public dataset rather than claiming an official DeFlock export or endorsement. DeFlock's project documentation.
What appears: Records tagged as ALPRs, plus records tagged as cameras whose brand or manufacturer identifies Flock. We exclude ordinary cameras with no reported Flock identity and exclude gunshot detectors. The snapshot contains 99 reported Flock ALPR points and two reported Flock cameras whose ALPR function is unspecified.
Geography: County views use the Portage, Wood and Marathon administrative boundaries in OSM. Community views use municipal boundaries, not mailing addresses or a radius around downtown. We checked Marshfield's full boundary, including the Clark County portion. County totals include community points; do not add community and county counts together.
Accuracy: Contributors may omit locations or misidentify equipment and operators. A marker does not prove ownership, current installation, activity, field of view, or where data is shared. The edit date shows a change to the source record; we have not independently visited each site. Closely spaced points may refer to distinct devices or duplicate reports.
Status: We show a city suspension annotation only when the reported operator matches Stevens Point police. The note reflects an agency announcement rather than a physical inspection. Other points remain unverified. Marshfield has one reported Flock camera with ALPR unspecified and no ALPR-tagged points in this snapshot; that is not proof that no plate readers exist there.
Corrections: Review the linked OSM record and use DeFlock's reporting instructions or OpenStreetMap's correction process. Agency policies and operating-status updates should be checked against current official records.
Camera locations and administrative boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under ODbL 1.0. The downloadable GeoJSON/CSV shares the source-derived location data with attribution. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. This resource does not include plate scans, driver identities or travel histories.
Loading the street map connects your browser to OpenStreetMap's tile service. The interactive map does not request your device location.