San Luis Obispo County
County record. Includes every city and agency within San Luis Obispo 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
Grover Beach Police Department
As of April 2024, the Grover Beach Police Department operates 12 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
San Luis Obispo Police Department
The San Luis Obispo Police Department uses automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): MuckrockSan Luis Obispo Police
The San Luis Obispo Police Department uses body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): New TimesThe TribuneKCBX FM Central Coast public radio
The San Luis Obispo Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): San Luis Obispo Police Department
Pismo Beach Police Department
The Pismo Beach Police Department operates automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pismo Beach Police DepartmentMuckrock
The Pismo Beach Police Department upgraded to WatchGuard body-worn cameras in 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pismo Beach City CouncilPismo Beach City Council
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office accessed face recognition through its contract with Clearview as of 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): State of California
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office operated seven DJI drones as of 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's OfficeCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegesafslo.org
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office uses Motorola Solutions (formerly Vigilant Solutions) automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's OfficeCalifornia State AuditorFirstnet
Arroyo Grande Police Department
The Arroyo Grande Police Department bought 30 body-worn cameras and docking stations for $60,600 from Coban in 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Arroyo Grande Police DepartmentArryo Grande Police Department FacebookArroyo Grande City Council
Morro Bay Police Department
The Morro Bay Police Department operated three DJI drones as of 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Morro Bay Police DepartmentKSBYCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
Paso Robles Police Department
The Paso Robles Police Department began using body-worn cameras in 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Paso Robles City CouncilKSBY6Paso Robles Daily News
The Paso Robles Police Department operates automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Paso Robles Police DepartmentPaso Robles PressPaso Robles Daily News
Atascadero Police Department
Atascadero Police Department uses Coban body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of AtascaderoAtascadero Police Department Facebook
Cuesta College Police Department
The Cuesta College Police Department uses body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cuesta College Police Department
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff
ALPR in use by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff, on the public record through two independent sources: news reporting that names the agency as operating the technology, and requests received on the agency's own public records request log that reference it.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): News coverageUnited States records-law analysis
Cal Poly State University Police Department
Cal Poly Police Department began using body-worn cameras in August 2018.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cal Poly Police Department
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026