An Garda Síochána
Technology presence
What these categories mean
- ANPR
- Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR): camera systems that automatically capture, read, and log vehicle number plates with location and time, producing a searchable record of vehicle movements.
- Fixed cameras & RTCC
- Agency-operated fixed video cameras and the real-time crime centers (RTCC) that aggregate live and recorded feeds for monitoring.
- Face recognition
- Software that matches faces in images or video against a reference database to identify or verify individuals.
- Drones / UAS
- Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), commonly called drones, operated by an agency for overhead observation, imaging, or sensing.
- Gunshot detection
- Networks of acoustic sensors that detect and locate suspected gunfire and alert an agency.
- Body-worn & dashcam
- Officer body-worn and in-vehicle dashboard cameras that record encounters; public access to the footage is frequently restricted.
- Doorbell & camera registry
- Programs that give an agency access to privately owned camera footage: doorbell-camera partnerships, citizen camera registries, and private-camera integration platforms.
- Cell-site simulators
- Devices that mimic cell towers to locate or identify nearby mobile phones. They are often called Stingrays, or IMSI catchers after the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number that identifies each phone on a network. Adjacent: communications surveillance outside the visual/sensor core.
- Predictive policing
- Software that forecasts where crime may occur or who may be involved, to direct policing. Adjacent: analytics rather than a sensing deployment.
- Social-media monitoring
- Tools that collect and analyze public social-media activity for an agency. Adjacent: open-source/communications monitoring outside the visual/sensor core.
The record, by operator
An Garda Síochána
Garda-operated automatic number plate recognition under sections 13, 15, 18 and 19 of the Recording Devices Act 2023 (superintendent approval, three-month focussed-monitoring cap, District Court extension); 130 of 332 Roads Policing vehicles were ANPR-equipped as of 2024.
Sources: An Garda Síochána — automatic number plate recognitionGarda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (Law Reform Commission revised text)
Body-worn cameras: proof of concept ran from 2024 at five stations (Dublin's Store Street, Pearse Street and Kevin Street; Waterford; Limerick — 600 Motorola V500 cameras); a national rollout is in procurement (~€150m over 15 years) under the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023. The Code of Practice consultation closed in January 2026; no proof-of-concept evaluation report has been published.
Sources: An Garda Síochána — body-worn camerasAn Garda Síochána — Waterford proof-of-concept launch (Sep 2024)The Irish Times — nationwide expansion (Jun 2026)Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (Law Reform Commission revised text)
Drone-mounted recording devices have a statutory basis under section 9 of the Recording Devices Act 2023; a dedicated Garda Drone Unit was created on 31 March 2026 for everyday policing use. No confirmed live-operations date is on record.
Sources: An Garda Síochána — aerial platformsThe Irish Times — Garda Drone Unit created (Mar 2026)Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (Law Reform Commission revised text)
GoSafe — Road Safety Operations Ireland (under contract to An Garda Síochána)
The GoSafe mobile safety-camera network is operated by Road Safety Operations Ireland on behalf of An Garda Síochána under a contract awarded in December 2024; enforcement expanded to 1,901 zones nationwide from 1 January 2026, at a minimum 6,000 enforcement hours per month.
Sources: An Garda Síochána — safety camera networkAn Garda Síochána — mobile safety camera expansion (2026)
In the press
Coverage naming An Garda Síochána.
Source: the public record — An Garda Síochána and Irish government publications and Data Protection Commission audit reports; per-entry citations on each record · retrieved July 2026