Merced County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Merced 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
Merced County Sheriff's Department
The Merced County Sheriff's Office operates 22 Flock Safety automated license plate readers and other cameras as of June 2025. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock Safety
The Merced County Sheriff's Office operated four DJI drones as of 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Merced County Sheriff’s OfficeCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
Los Banos Police Department
The Los Banos Police Department operated six DJI drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Los Banos Police DepartmentCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.faa.gov
The Los Banos Police Department received city council authorization to purchase automated license plate readers in April 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Los BanosMerced Sun-StarCity of Los Banos
The Los Banos Police Department used body-worn cameras as of 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Los Banos Policy ManualLos Banos Police Department Facebook
Atwater Police Department
The Atwater Police Department equipped 23 officers with Axon body-worn cameras in 2020. The five-year deal cost $105,000.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Merced Sun-StarAtwater Police Facebook pageCity Of Atwater City Council
Livingston Police Department
Livingston Police Department used body-worn cameras as of 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Livingston Police DepartmentMerced Sun-Star
Merced Police Department
According to reporting from The Markup, the Merced Police Department used PredPol (now Geolitica) between 02/22/18 and 07/01/20.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Markup
The Merced Police Department has been using automated license plate readers since 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Merced Police DepartmentABC 30Merced PD
The Merced Police Department operates five DJI drones as of 2017, 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.mercedcountytimes.netcityofmerced.legistar.com
The Merced Police Department has used body-worn cameras since 2011.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ABC30City of Merced
The Merced Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Merced
University of California, Merced Police Department
University of California, Merced Police Department equipped its officers with body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): University of California, Merced Police Department Policy ManualUniversity of California, Merced Police Facebook
Merced College Police Department
The Merced College Police Department began using body-worn cameras in 2016.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Merced County TimesMerced College Campus Digest
Gustine Police Department
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $54,000 to the Gustine Police Department in 2018 as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's body-worn camera grant program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): U.S Department of Justicewww.westsideconnect.com
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026