Cochise County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Cochise County.
Technology presence
What these categories mean
- ALPR
- Automated license plate readers (ALPR): camera systems that automatically capture, read, and log vehicle license 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. Extends the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Atlas, which enumerates real-time crime centers and camera registries but not standalone fixed-camera estates.
- 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 agency
Tombstone Marshal's Office
The Tombstone Marshal's Office uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Herald Review
Benson Police Department
The Benson Police Department operates six Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Cochise County Sheriff's Office
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office introduced a new drone program in fall 2025 for surveilling the U.S.-Mexico border. It has used drones since at least 2015.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): KJZZNews NationCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office began using Cogniac software in 2018 to analyze footage from wilderness cameras placed along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cochise CountyHerald-ReviewThe Intercept
The Cochise County Sheriff's office received approval in 2019 to spend $580,784 over five years to outfit 60 officers with Axon body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cochise Website
While the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office does not own a cell-site simulator, search warrant records obtained by a local reporter show that deputies have the ability to access such a device maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Bisbee Justice Courtwww.documentcloud.org
Sierra Vista Police Department
The Sierra Vista Police Department operated DJI drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sierra Vista Police DepartmentCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.myheraldreview.com
Sierra Vista Police Department purchased 62 Axon body-worn cameras in 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Herald/Review
Douglas Police Department
The Douglas Police Department uses body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ABC 15
Tombstone Marhsal's Office
The Tombstone Marhsal's Office operates one DJI Mavic drone as of 2019, according to data compiled by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.myheraldreview.com
Huachuca City Police
Huachuca City set aside $3,200 for body-worn cameras in its 2017 budget.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Town of Huachuca City Council Minutes
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026