Kalamazoo County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Kalamazoo 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
Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office received a grant for automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office uses body-worn cameras.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
The City of Kalamazoo purchased 219 Axon body cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): MLiveWOOD-TVKalamazoo Department of Public Safety
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety uses the Fusus camera registry system.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): 404 Media
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety uses drones.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WWMTKalamazoo Department of Public Safety
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Kalamazoo Township Police Department
The Kalamazoo Township Police Department has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
The Kalamazoo Township Police Department received $90,000 to purchase 45 body-worn cameras through the Small, Rural and Tribal Body-Worn Camera program in 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): SRT BWC ProgramWOOD-TVKalamazoo Township
The Kalamazoo Township Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Western Michigan University Police Department
The Western Michigan University Police Department has Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 17
The Western Michigan University Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Kalamazoo County Dispatch Authority
The Kalamazoo County Dispatch Authority has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Kalamazoo Valley Community College Public Safety Department
The Kalamazoo Valley Community College Public Safety Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Portage Police Department
As of April 2024, the Portage Police Department operates 27 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 Portage Police Department started using PredPol (now Geolitica) predictive policing software in 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WWMT
Richland Police Department
The Richland Police Department operates two Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
The Richland Police Department has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Portage Department Of Public Safety
The Portage Department Of Public Safety has desktop access to Michigan State Police's face recognition system, the Statewide Network of Agency Photos (SNAP).
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Michigan State PoliceMichigan State PoliceMichigan State Police
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026
In the press
Coverage naming Kalamazoo County or a jurisdiction within it.