Sacramento County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Sacramento 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
Sacramento Police Department
The Sacramento Police Department entered into a new, 5-year, $2-6 million contract for ShotSpotter in 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Government TechnologyFox 40
The Sacramento Police Department uses Vintra software to analyze video, according to a March 2023 report.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Los Angeles Times
The Sacramento Police Department operated 84 drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of SacramentoCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.abc10.com
The Sacramento Police Department scanned more than 70 million license plates in 2022 using Motorola Solutions automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sacramento Police DepartmentMuckRockCalifornia State Auditor
All Sacramento Police Department officers wear body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Sacramento Police Department
The Sacramento Police Department built a real time crime center in the Central Command Police Facility for $500,000 in June 2016. The RTCC has access to police observation devices, automated license plate readers, and ShotSpotter gunshot detection software.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Government Technology
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol installed a network of 480 automated license plate readers. The agency plans to install 290 ALPRs in Oakland and 190 ALPRs along the East Bay’s state highways.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Mercury News
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department operates automated license plate readers. In 2024, a grand jury ruled that Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office did not fully comply with state laws regarding motorists’ privacy.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sacramento County Sheriff's OfficeFOX 40
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office implemented a ShotSpotter gunshot detection system in 2017. However, the sheriff announced plans to end the contract after 2020 due to budget constraints.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox News
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office acquired cell-site simulator technology in 2014, according data compiled by Kevin Collier for Vocativ.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): VocativKevin Collierwww.documentcloud.org
As of 2016, 500 Sacramento County Sheriff's Office deputies had access to face recogition technology.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Police 1
Galt Police Department
As of April 2024, the Galt Police Department operates 25 Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock SafetyThe News & ObserverThe News & Observer
In April 2021, the Galt City Council approved the purchase of Axon body-worn cameras for the Galt Police Department.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Lodi News
Elk Grove Police Department
The Elk Grove Police Department ooperates a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): KXTVCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard CollegeElk Grove Police Department
The Elk Grove Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Elk Grove Laguna NewsCity of Elk GroveSacramento County Grand Jury
The Elk Grove Police Department maintains a real-time crime center. According to CBS13, the Elk Grove Police Departrment's real-time crime center utilizes more than 300 cameras, traffic feeds, cameras installed on city buses, and fixed automated license plate readers.
The Elk Grove Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras through Motorola Solutions' CityProtect platform.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CityProtect
Citrus Heights Police Department
The Citrus Heights Police Department operates automated license plate readers. In 2023, the agency applied fro a grant to lease 98 Flock Safety Falcon cameras, 11 Flock Safety Condor PTZ cameras, and 6 mobile security camera trailers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Citrus Heights Police DepartmentBoard of State and Community Corrections
The Citrus Heights Police Department operated eight drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Citrus Heights Police DepartmentCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegetwitter.com
Folsom Police Department
The Folsom Police Department operated DJI drones as of 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Folsom City CouncilCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.faa.gov
The Folsom Police Department scanned more than 28,500,000 license plates using Motorola Solutions license plate readers in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Folsom Police DepartmentMuckRockCalifornia State Auditor
The Folsom Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Folsom
Sacramento State Police Department
The Sacramento State Police Department has used body-worn cameras since 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sacramento State Police Policy ManualCalifornia State University Chancellor's ReportSacramento State 2022 Annual CA Campus Safety Plan Report
Los Rios Community College Police Department
The Los Rios Community College Police Department utilizes WatchGuard body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Los Rios Community College Policy Manual
Los Rios Police Department
All Los Rios Police Department officers are required to use body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): American River CurrentLos Rios Police Facebook pageLos Rios Police Department
California Department of Justice
The California Department of Justice began using body-worn cameras in 2015, becoming the first statewide agency in the country to adopt the technology.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): PBSThe Sacramento Bee
The California Department of Justice acquired cell-site simulator technology in 2012, according data compiled by Kevin Collier for Vocativ.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): VocativKevin Collier
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026