Humboldt County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Humboldt 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
Bear River Band Police Department
The Bear River Band Police Department received a Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera Program grant for $15,838 for 10 body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Justice & Security StrategiesJustice & Security Strategies
Humboldt County Sheriff's Department
The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office began using automated license plate readers in January 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Humboldt County SheriffLost Coast Outpost
The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office signed a $91,000 contract with Axon in 2019 to equip all corrections officers with body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Times-StandardLost Coast OutpostKIEM TV Website
Arcata Police Department
The Arcata Police Department has used automated license plate readers since at least 2012.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Times StandardCalifornia State AuditorArcata Police Department
Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department
The Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department was selected to receive a grant of $11,500 for 10 body-worn cameras in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Bureau of Justice Assistance Small Rural Tribal Body-worn camera program website
Humboldt State University Police Department
The Humboldt State University Police Department issued a body-worn camera policy in 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Humboldt State UniversityHumboldt State University Police Department Policy Manual
Rio Dell Police Department
The Rio Dell Police Department began using Axon body-worn cameras in 2015
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Times-StandardNorth Cast Journal of Politics, People & ArtThe Times-Standard
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026