Santa Cruz County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Santa Cruz 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
Watsonville Police Department
As of April 2024, the Watsonville Police Department operates 20 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
The Watsonville Police Department equipped all of its officers with 75 Axon body-worn Cameras in 2019. The five-year contract cost more than $470,000.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): PatchSanta Cruz SentinelWatsonville Legistar
Capitola Police Department
The Capitola Police Department acquired Flock Safety automated license plate readers in 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Capitola City COuncilSanta Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz Police Department
The Santa Cruz Police Department received approval to purchase five Skydio drones in February 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Santa Cruz Sentinel
The Santa Cruz Police Department received approval to install Flock Safety automated license plate readers in December 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Good Times
The Santa Cruz Police Department has used body-worn cameras since 2018. Police officers, community service officers, and park rangers wear BWCs.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Santa CruzSanta Cruz Police and the 21st Century Policing
The Santa Cruz Police Department has a camera registry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Downtown Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office operated 24 drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Santa Cruz County Sheriff's OfficeThe PajaronianCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office has used body-worn cameras since 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Santa Cruz County Sheriff
Scotts Valley Police Department
The Scotts Valley Police Department uses WatchGuard body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Scotts Valley Police DepartmentScotts Valley Police Department Facebook
University of California Santa Cruz Police Department
The UC Santa Cruz Police Department acquired body-worn cameras in 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City on a Hill PressUniversity of California Santa Cruz 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