Sonoma County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Sonoma 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
Santa Rosa Police Department
The Santa Rosa Police Department has 36 Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of February 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock SafetySanta Rosa PoliceCalifornia Board of State and Community Corrections
The Santa Rosa Police Department launched a real-time crime center in 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Schaumburg PolicePress Democrat
The Santa Rosa Police Department operated 23 drones as of 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Santa Rosa Police DepartmentSanta Rosa Police DepartmentSanta Rosa Police Department
The Santa Rosa Police Department obtained VieVu body-worn cameras in 2015, but the department switch to Axon cameras in 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Santa Rosa PD Facebook PagePress DemocratPress Democrat
The Santa Rosa Police Department website includes an interface for the city's surveillance camera registry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Santa Rosa Police Department
Cotati Police Department
The Cotati Police Department operates automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Community VoiceCotati Police Department's Facebook pageCotati Police Department
The Cotati Police Department maintains a camera regisry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cotati Police
The Cotati Police Department's Facebook page features officers wearing the Axon Body 2 as of March 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cotati Police
Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety
The Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers as part of a regional auto-theft task force.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Rohnert Park DPSRohnert Park City CouncilRohnert Park City Council
The Rohnert Park Police Department's Facebook page features officers wearing the Axon Body 2 camera as of April 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Rohnert Park Police
The Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety maintains a camera registry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Rohnert Park Police
Sonoma State University
The Sonoma State University received a Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera Program grant for $24,000 for 6 body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Justice & Security StrategiesJustice & Security Strategies
Sonoma Police Department
The Sonoma Police Department received approval to use Flock Safety automated license plate readers in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sonoma Index Tribune
The Sonoma Police Department's Facebook page features officers wearing the Axon Body 2 camera as of March 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sonoma PD
Cloverdale Police Department
The Cloverdale Police Department requested approval from the city council for its automated license plate reader program in May 2023. The initial purchase, installation and first-year annual maintenance fee was $37,250.00.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of CloverdaleCloverdale Police DepartmentCity of Cloverdale
The Cloverdale Police Department's Facebook page features officers wearing Axon Body 2 cameras as of December of 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Cloverdale Police
Sonoma County Sheriff's Department
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office operated 13 drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sonoma County Sheriff's OfficeCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.pressdemocrat.com
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office uses at least 250 body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Government pageThe Press Democratwww.pressdemocrat.com
As of 2022, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office did not have automated license plate readers, but accessed ALPR data through a regional auto theft task force.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sonoma County Sheriff's Office
Healdsburg Police Department
The Healdsburg Police Department operates stationary and mobile automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Healdsburg Police DepartmentHealdsburg Police Department
The Healdsburg Police Officer's Association Facebook page includes officers wearing Axon Body 2 cameras as of December 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Healdsburg Police Officer's Association
Petaluma Police Department
The Petaluma Police Department uses automated license plare readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Petaluma Police DepartmentCalifornia State Auditor
The Petaluma Police Department obtained body-worn cameras in 2014. It purchased 70 new BWCs in 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Petaluma Argus-CourierPetaluma Police
Windsor Police Department
The Windsor Police Department's Facebook page features officers wearing the Axon Body 2 camera as of May 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Windsor PD
Sebastopol Police Department
The Sebastopol Police Department's Facebook page features officers wearing the Axon Body 2 camera as of November 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sebastopol PD
Sonoma State University Police Department
The Sonoma State University Police Department uses body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sonoma State University
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026