Chester County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Chester 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
Coatesville Police Department
The Coatesville Police Department received a Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera Program grant for $22,808 for 14 body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Justice & Security StrategiesJustice & Security Strategies
West Chester Borough Police Department
The West Chester Borough Police Department received Commonwealth of Pennsylvania funding to implement body-worn cameras in 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): West Chester Borough Police Department FacebookSRT BWC Program
West Vincent Township Police Department
The West Vincent Township Police Department received a Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera Program grant for $19,687 for 11 body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Justice & Security StrategiesJustice & Security Strategies
West Goshen Township Police Department
The West Goshen Township Police Department began using WatchGuard body-worn cameras in 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): West Goshen TownshipWest Goshen Township Police Department
The West Goshen Police Department uses automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): West GoshenPhiladelphia Police Department
Upper Uwchlan Township Police Department
The Upper Uwchalan Township Police Department has been using body-worn cameras since 2016 and got new cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Upper Uwchlan Township Police DepartmentUpper Uwchlan Township
Southern Chester County Regional Police Department
The Southern Chester County Regional Police Department currently uses WatchGuard body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Southern Chester County Regional Police DepartmentSouthern Chester County Regional Police Department
The Southern Chester County Regional Police Department operates one DJI Phantom drone as of 2018, 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.newgarden.org
The Southern Chester County Regional Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
Kennett Square Police Department
The Kennett Square Police Department received $21,829 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to purchase 15 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
The Kennett Square Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
West Whiteland Township Police Department
The West Whiteland Township Police Department received $15,000 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to purchase 12 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
Schuylkill Township Police Department
The Schuylkill Township Police Department uses WatchGuard body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Schuylkill Township Police Department
The Schuylkill Township Police Department operates one drone as of 2019, 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.tnonline.com
Caln Township Police Department
Caln Township Police Department began utilizing body-worn cameras in May 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Daily Local NewsCaln Township website
Warwick Township Police Department
The Warwick Township Police Department received a $13,255 grant in 2021 to purchase body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
Easttown Township Police Department
The Easttown Township Police Department uses Axon body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Easttown Township Police Department FacebookEasttown Township
Phoenixville Police Department
The Phoenixville Police Department equips all officers with a WatchGuard body-worn camera.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Phoenixville Police Department
The Phoenixville Police Department operates one Yuneec Typhoon H drone 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 Collegewww.dailylocal.com
Chester County Sheriff's Office
The Chester County Sheriff's Office's Department operates one DJI Phantom drone 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 College
Upper Uwchlan Police Department
The Upper Uwchlan Police Department 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 Collegewww.philly.com
Downingtown Police Department
The Downingtown Police Department operates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
North Coventry Police Department
The North Coventry Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
Oxford Police Department
The Oxford Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
Parkesburg Borough Police Department
The Parkesburg Borough Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
Spring City Police Department
The Spring City Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department
The Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Departmentoperates a camera registry via CRIMEWATCH.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CRIMEWATCH
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026