Wake County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Wake 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
Cary Police Department
The Cary Police Department implemented a body-worn camera program in 2019 and upgraded them to Axon cameras in 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Town of CaryCBS17
Fuquay-Varina Police Department
The Fuquay-Varina Police Department began using body-worn cameras in 2018. In 2023, the Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded $130,000 to purchase new cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Bureau of Justice AssistanceFuquay-Varina Police Department's Facebook Page
As of April 2024, the Fuquay-Varina Police Department operates 11 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
Raleigh Police Department
As of April 2024, the Raleigh Police Department operates 26 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 Raleigh Police Department had acquired a new cell-site simulator vehicle as of October 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Jacobs TechnologyKevin CollierVocativ
The Raleigh Police Department began using Dataworks face recognition technology in 2015. It also subscribed to Clearview AI's face recognition system in 2019, but then ceased using the software after six months.
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $600,000 to the Raleigh 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 Justice
Wendell Police Department
Wendell Police Department received $58,000 to purchase 29 body-worn cameras through the Small, Rural and Tribal Body-Worn Camera program in 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): SRT BWC Program
Wake Forest Police Department
The Wake Forest Police Department has more than two dozen Flock Safety cameras as of October 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CBS17
Garner Police Department
The Garner Police Department began using Flock Safety gunshot detection technology in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Charlotte News & Observer
The Garner Police Department installed 15 Flock Safety automated license plate readers in February 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WRAL
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $83,320 to the Garner Police Department in 2017 as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's body-worn camera grant program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): U.S Department of Justice
Knightdale Police Department
The Knightdale Police Department uses automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WRALThe Wake Weekly
Wake County Sheriff's Office
The Wake County Sheriff's Office began using body-worn cameras in late 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WRAL
The Wake County Sheriff's Office uses automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wake County Sheriff's Office
North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles
North Carolina’s Division of Motor Vehicles responds to face recognition requests from FBI’s FACE Services.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Electronic Frontier FoundationGovernment Accountability Office
North Carolina Department of Public Safety
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety operates two Trimble drones as of 2016, 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 Collegeregistry.faa.govwww.newsobserver.com
North Carolina State Highway Patrol
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol operates two DJI drones as of 2017, 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.newsobserver.com
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026