Adams County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Adams 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
Brighton Police Department
The Brighton Police Department operates nine Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Brighton Police Department began implemetation of a body-worn camera program in 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Brighton Standard Blade
The Brighton Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Brighton
Adams County Sheriff's Office
The Adams County Sheriff's Office operates Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Denver Gazette
Westminster Police Department
The Westminster Police Department has a drone operations team.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Westminster Police Department FacebookWestminster Police Department Facebook
The Westminster Police Department has more than 200 Axon body-worn cameras as of 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of WestminsterCity of Westminster
The Westminster Police Department began using ELSAG automated license plate readers in 2009. In 2018 and 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the department funds for its ALPR program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Westminster City Council AgendaU.S. Bureau of Justice AssistanceU.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance
Commerce City Police Department
The Commerce City Police Department operates a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ReasonCommerce City Police DepartmentCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
The Commerce City Police Department received funding from the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority (CAPTA) to purchase automate license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ACLU
Thornton Police Department
The Thornton Police Department uses drones.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Thornton Police Department InstagramThornton Police Department
The Thornton Police Department received federal funding for body-worn cameras in 2018 and 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): US Bureau of Justice AssistanceU.S Department of Justicewww.thorntonco.gov
The Thornton Police Department received funding from the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority (CAPTA) to purchase automate license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ACLU
The Thornton Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Thornton
University of Colorado, Anschutz Police Department
The University of Colorado, Anschutz Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026