Ventura County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Ventura 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
Ventura County Sheriff's Department
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office installed 15 cameras in Moorpark, Calif. in July 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ventura County StarVentura County Sheriff's OfficeVentura County Sheriff's Office
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office operated 25 drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ventura County Sheriff's OfficeCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.venturasheriff.org
The Ventura County Sheriff's Department received approval to purchase an Octasic Nyxell cell-site simulator system for $1,125,000 in June 2023. Previously, the agency acquired cell-site simulator technology in 2011, according data compiled by Kevin Collier for Vocativ.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): VocativKevin CollierCenter For Human Rights and Privacy
Ventura Police Department
The Ventura Police Department received approval to use automated license plate readers in 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ventura Police DepartmentCity of VenturaCity of Ventura
The Ventura Police Department operated drones as of 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ventura Police DepartmentCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.MuckRock.com
The Ventura Police Department has access to a face recognition system.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ventura Police Department
The Ventura Police Department purchased body-worn cameras from Axon through a five-year, $1,070,077.50 contract in 2015.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of VenturaBill Haney Law
The Ventura Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Ventura
Simi Valley Police Department
As of April 2024, the Simi Valley Police Department operates 23 Flock Safety automated license plate readers. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock SafetyThe News & ObserverSimi Valley Acorn
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $187,500 to the Simi Valley Police Department in 2016 as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's body-worn camera grant program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): U.S Department of Justicewww.vcstar.comwww.simivalleyacorn.com
The Simi Valley Police Department's SafeCam program is a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Simi Valley
Port Hueneme Police Department
As of April 2024, the Port Hueneme Police Department operates 16 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
Santa Paula Police Department
The Santa Paula Police Department received city council approval to install Flock Safety automated license plate readers in June 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ventura County-StarCity of Santa Paula
Thousand Oaks Police Department
The Thousand Oaks Police Department has been using automated license plate readers since 2017 and expanded the program in late 2021/early 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Citizens JournalThe Conejo Guardian
Ventura County Community College District Police Department
Some Ventura County Community College District Police Department wear body-worn cameras, however, as of 2019, records indicate officers had personally purchased the cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): VCCCDVCCPD Facebook PageVCCCD
Oxnard Police Department
The Oxnard Police Department operates Motorola Solutions (formerly Vigilant Solutions) automated license plate readers and accesses data from other agencies via Flock Safety's network.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Oxnard Police DepartmentCalifornia State AuditorMuckRock
The Oxnard Police Department operates one drone as of 2019, 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.citizensjournal.us
California State University, Channel Islands Police Department
The California State University, Channel Islands Police Department announced their use of body-worn cameras in September 2018.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): California State University, Channel IslandsCalifornia State University Chancellor's Report
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026