Richland County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Richland 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
Ontario Police Department
The Ontario Police Department received $31,279 from the Ohio Department of Public Safety to purchase body-worn cameras in 2026.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ohio State GovernorOhio State Governor
As of April 2024, the Ontario Police Department operates 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
Mansfield Police Department
The Mansfield Police Department received a $272,000 state grant to increase the square mileage covered by gunshot detection technology in 2024. The agency acquired ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology in 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): ShotSpotterMansfield News JournalState of Ohio
As of April 2024, the Mansfield Police Department operates 29 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 Mansfield Police Department purchased 16 WatchGuard body-worn cameras in 2021 and expects to purchase another 24 in 2022. In January 2022, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine awarded $145,183.35 to the Mansfield Division of Police for expenses associated with launching or maintaining body-worn camera programs. The agency received an additional $55,452 grant for body-worn cameras from the Ohio Department of Public Safety in December 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Mansfield News JournalMansfield Police DepartmentOffice of the Governor
The Mansfield Police Department purchased three DJI drones for $20,000 in 2018.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Mansfield Police DepartmentNews Organization
Mansfield Division of Police
The Mansfield Division of Police received a $120,000 state grant to establish a real time crime center.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): State of Ohio
Richland County Sheriff's Office
As of April 2024, the Richland County Sheriff's Office operates nine 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 Richland County Sheriff's Office operates one DJI Phantom drone as of 2015, 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.gov
Richland County Sheriff’s Office
The Richland County Sheriff’s Office received more than $141,000 in grant funds for the Ohio's Governor's Office for body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Ohio Governor's OfficeWTVG
Shelby Police Department
The Shelby Police Department received $28,000 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to purchase 14 body-worn cameras through the 2022 Small, Rural, Tribal BWC Microgrant program.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera microgrant grantee list
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026