WEST FARGO, ND – West Fargo has 48 fixed license plate readers from Flock Safety, more than Minneapolis and Fargo, even though it is much smaller than both cities. Fargo has 21 of the devices and Moorhead has eight, according to the police departments.
None of the North Dakota cities in the metro area is disclosing where the stationary readers are installed. Police say state law lets them keep maps and addresses for the devices out of public records, even as they acknowledge the cameras are in public places.
North Dakota cities cite state law to keep camera locations private
West Fargo police say the locations of their readers are exempt from release under state law covering security system plans tied to disaster and cybersecurity information. Police spokeswoman Addisen Stewart said the information is treated as security and criminal intelligence material.
Fargo police used a different statute, saying it protects active criminal intelligence and investigative information collected to anticipate, prevent or monitor criminal activity. Chelsey Stoa, the department’s spokeswoman, said the cameras are not publicly mapped, but are placed where people have no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Moorhead police declined an interview, but said their Flock locations are listed on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension website. Minnesota law requires law enforcement agencies there to make device addresses public.
Why West Fargo’s camera count drew attention
The question drew attention because West Fargo is far smaller than Minneapolis and Fargo, yet has more fixed readers than either city. Minneapolis has 30, according to the Minnesota BCA website, while Fargo has 21, despite Minneapolis having a much larger population and West Fargo covering far less land.
West Fargo police Chief Pete Nielsen said the city does not have the same live camera network as neighboring jurisdictions. He said the department uses significantly fewer cameras overall when all camera types are considered, and police spokeswoman Addisen Stewart said West Fargo has no additional live traffic cameras outside the Flock devices.
Fargo, by contrast, said it has 67 traffic cameras and five pan, tilt and zoom cameras from Flock. West Fargo said it has 12 traffic cameras, while Moorhead said it has 17, including five pan, tilt and zoom cameras.
Flock cameras are part of a wider national debate
Flock Safety has become a common vendor for police departments around the country. Its cameras photograph vehicles and let agencies search where a vehicle has been based on a license plate number or other details.
According to a Fargo Police Department contract, agencies can also look up plates on cameras that are opted into Flock’s nationwide network. The system can also alert law enforcement when a listed vehicle passes a camera.
Supporters say that capability has helped investigators, while critics argue the technology can create a detailed record of where people travel. Privacy concerns have led some communities, including St. Paul and Duluth in Minnesota and Horace in North Dakota, to remove Flock devices from public streets.
Police point to past cases where the readers helped investigators
Law enforcement agencies in the Fargo-Moorhead area said the readers have already played a role in investigations. Among the examples they cited were the case of a man accused of killing his mother in Fargo and then fleeing to Nebraska, and the theft of an Honor Flight merchandise trailer.
Those examples are part of the case made by police departments that the devices can be useful public-safety tools. At the same time, concerns persist over whether the systems amount to private surveillance if residents cannot see exactly where they are placed.
Barry Nelson of the Faith and Conviction Coalition, which has organized anti-Flock demonstrations, said the secrecy undercuts trust. He said it is hard to understand why officials would hide the locations of surveillance devices from the community.
Other North Dakota cities have stayed away from fixed Flock systems
West Fargo and Fargo appear to be outliers among large North Dakota cities. Police in Bismarck, Minot, Grand Forks and Jamestown said they do not use fixed license plate readers.
Bismarck Police Lt. Luke Gardiner said his department considered stationary systems but chose to focus on mobile readers mounted in patrol vehicles. He said every patrol vehicle in the city is equipped with ALPR cameras from Axon Enterprise, which have met the department’s needs so far.
Dickinson has readers at three intersections, but they are not Flock devices, according to Dickinson Police Lt. Mike Hanel. Bismarck police also said some private businesses in the city use Flock cameras, though the department cannot add to or access those systems.
How each city decided how many cameras to install
Moorhead Police Chief Chris Helmick said the city’s eight devices were chosen by the previous administration and installed between March 21 and May 29, 2025. He said he has decided not to expand the system for now because the current number appears to be meeting the department’s needs.
Helmick said Moorhead placed the cameras based on crime data and wanted to preserve budget room for other needs. He also said the department may consider switching to Axon readers if they perform better in cold weather and work more smoothly with other equipment the city already owns.
Fargo said it used crime patterns, calls for service and high-traffic corridors to determine its setup. Capt. Matt Christensen said cost and budget limits also shaped the decision, and he said the city does not currently plan to expand the Flock program. Fargo and Moorhead both have transparency portals that show searches and vehicle detections from the last 30 days, while West Fargo has now added similar figures to its portal as well.
