Town of Hartford
Capitol Planning Region · Connecticut
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
Hartford Police Department
The Hartford Police Department utilizes the Fusus camera registry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CT InsiderHartford Police Departmentwww.muckrock.com
The Hartford Police Dept. began using body-worn cameras in 2019,
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): NBC ConnecticutState of Connecticut, Office of Policy and ManagementCT NBC
The Hartford Police Department operates one drone as of 2018, 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 Collegewnpr.org
The Hartford Police Department acquired automated license plate readers as early as 2010.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WTIC NewsTalkELSAG
In 2012, the Hartford Police Department installed ShotSpotter and in 2016 expanded coverage to the entire city for $500,000.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Hartford CourantHartford CourantWTNH
The Hartford Police Department launched its real-time crime center in 2016. The Capital City Crime Center uses automated license plate readers, ShotSpotter gunshot detection, a network of more than 750 cameras, and multiple data analysis software tools.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WTNH News 8MilestoneNBC Connecticut
The Hartford Police Department has used BriefCam software since 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): BriefCam Press ReleaseBriefCamHartford Courant
DEEP Environmental Conservation Police Department
The DEEP Environmental Conservation Police Department uses body-worn cameras, as required by state law, according to a 2022 report from NBC Connecticut.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CT NBCwww.datawrapper.de
Metropolitan District Commission Police Department
The Metropolitan District Commission Police Department uses body-worn cameras, as required by state law, according to a 2022 report from NBC Connecticut.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CT NBCwww.datawrapper.de
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026