Erie County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Erie 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
Erie County Sheriff's Office
The Erie County Sheriff's Office operates 23 Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
The Erie County Sheriff's Office has four drones, according to a 2022 report from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ACLU of New York
In October 2017, the Erie County Sheriff's Office began a body-worn camera pilot progam with 12 Axon cameras. In 2019, the Erie County legislature approved a 5-year contract with Axon to expand the BWC program for $1.6 million.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Erie County Sheriff's OfficeErie County Sheriff's OfficeErie Public Safety Committee
The Erie County Sheriff's Office first acquired cell-site simulator technology from Harris Corp. in 2008. The agency upgraded to a Stingray II from Harris in 2012.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): VocativKevin Collierwww.wgrz.com
Hamburg Town Police Department
The Hamburg Town Police Department operates four Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Hamburg Village Police Department
The Hamburg Village Police Department operates two Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Kenmore Village Police Department
The Kenmore Village Police Department operates four Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Lackawanna City Police Department
The Lackawanna City Police Department operates six Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
West Seneca Town Police Department
The West Seneca Town Police Department operates 19 Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Hamburg Police Department
The Hamburg Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock Safety
Tonawanda Police Department
The Tonawanda Police Department operates 14 Flock Safety automated license plate readers and other cameras as of June 2025. The agency stores ALPR data for 365 days.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock Safety
The Tonawanda Police Department has one drone, according to a 2022 report from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ACLU of New York
Buffalo Police Department
The Buffalo Police Department scanned 40,819,714 license plates in 2019 using Vigilant Solutions automated license plate readers. The ALPRs "overwhelmingly" target the east side of the city.
In 2018, the New York Attorney General provided $150,000 to the Buffalo Police Department for 300 body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): New York Attorney General's Office
The Buffalo Police Department's SafeCam program is a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Buffalo Police Department
Cheektowaga Police Department
The Cheektowaga Police Department installed Flock Safety automated license plate readers in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WIVB
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $79,665 to the Cheektowaga Police Department in 2019 as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's body-worn camera grant program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): U.S Department of Justice
Amherst Police Department
The Amherst Police Department agreed to spend $3.7 million over 10 years on a contract with Axon Enterprise to provide updated body worn cameras, car cameras and tasers in 2023. In 2018, the New York Attorney General provided $37,625 to the Amherst Police Department for 43 body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Buffalo NewsNew York Attorney General's Office
West Seneca Police Department
The West Seneca Police Department has one drone, according to a 2022 report from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ACLU of New YorkCenter for the Study of the Drone at Bard Collegewww.westseneca.net
Erie Crime Analysis Center
Launched in 2008, the Erie Crime Analysis Center is part of a network of 10 real-time crime analysis centers supported by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice. It is housed at the Buffalo Police Department and services law enforcement agencies in Erie and Chautauqua counties.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): New York State Division of Criminal Justice ServicesNew York State Division of Criminal Justice ServicesNew York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
Amhearst Police Department
The Amhearst Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Town of Amhearst
Kenmore Police Department
The Kenmore Police Department's SafeCam program is a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Village of Kenmore
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026