Washoe County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Washoe 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
Washoe County Sheriff's Office
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office has had drones since 2020 and has had a drone-as-first responder program since at least 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Washoe County Sheriff's Officewww.rgj.comWashoe County Sheriff's Office
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office uses Axon's real-time crime center.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): KRNV
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office uses automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ACLUWashoe County Sheriff's OfficeMedium
Sparks Police Department
The Sparks Police Department uses Axon's Fusus camera registry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of SparksKolo
The Sparks Police Department is implementing a drone-as-first-responder program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): KKOH-AMSparks Police DepartmentKTVN
The Spark Police Department has Motorola Solutions automated license plate readers mounted on some patrol vehicles and has installed Flock Safety ALPRs throughout the city.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock SafetyMuckRockKOLO
The Sparks Police Department and the Reno Police Department jointly operate a real-time information center.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Reno
The Sparks Police Department began using ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): KOLO
The Sparks Police Department began using Axon body-worn cameras in June 2018.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Sparks Police DepartmentSparks Police Department
Reno Police Department
The Sparks Police Department and the Reno Police Department jointly operate a real-time information center.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Reno
The Reno Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers. Previously it used Vigilant Solutions ALPR.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock SafetyThis is RenoMuckRock
The Reno Police Department uses Flock Safety Raven gunshot detection technology.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): This is Reno
The Reno Police Department has been using Axon body-worn cameras since at least 2018. In 2022, the agency upgraded to Axon's Fleet model.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): 2 NewsReno Police Department
In 2022, Reno Police Department began using Fusus software, with video analytical components.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Reno City CouncilReno Police Department
The Reno Police Department operates a voluntary citizen and business camera registry.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Reno Police DepartmentReno Police Department
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department
The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department was selected to receive a $30,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to purchase 15 Axon body-worn cameras in 2023. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department also received a Small, Rural and Tribal Body-Worn Camera Program grant for $30,000 for 15 body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Department FacebookThe Bureau of Justice Assistance Small Rural Tribal Body-worn camera program websiteJustice & Security Strategies
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Police Department
The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Police Department was selected to receive a $10,500 grant for 18 body-worn cameras in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Bureau of Justice Assistance Small Rural Tribal Body-worn camera program website
Washoe County Sheriff’s Office
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office outfitted 150 officers with body-worn cameras in 2018.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): KTVNWashoe County ShreiffWashoe County Sheriff Facebook page
University of Nevada, Reno Police Department
The University of Nevada, Reno Police Department has been using body-worn cameras since at least 2017.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Reno Gazette Journal
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026