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
Richland County Sheriff's Office
The Richland County Sheriff's Office began using ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WIS
The Richland County Sheriff's Office installed Flock Safety automated license plate readers at five locations across Richland County in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Richland SourceThe Post and Courier
The Richland County Sheriff's Office's Department operates four DJI drones as of 2010, 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.coladaily.comwww.abccolumbia.com
The Richland County Sheriff’s Office purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $132,000 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
Allen University Campus Police Department
The Allen University Campus Police Department received a total of $42617.2 in state funding for body-worn cameras in fiscal years 2018-2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): South Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public Safety
Benedict College Police Department
The Benedict College Police Department received a total of $28805 in state funding for body-worn cameras in fiscal years 2018-2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): South Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public Safety
South Carolina Department of Corrections
The South Carolina Department of Corrections received $111001.9 in state funding for body-worn cameras in fiscal year 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): South Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public Safety
South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services
The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services received a total of $841117.37 in state funding for body-worn cameras in fiscal years 2019-2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): South Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public SafetySouth Carolina Department of Public Safety
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division maintains a database containing driver’s license photos, mugshots, and probation photos, and responds to FBI queries to search this database. However, some local law enforcement agencies can reportedly run direct queries through a separate face recognition system.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Electronic Frontier FoundationGovernment Accountability OfficeSouth Carolina Law Enforcement Division
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $450,605 to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division 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
South Carolina Department of Public Safety
The South Carolina Highway Patrol 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 Collegeregistry.faa.gov
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $240,900 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
Columbia College Police Department
Columbia College Police Department has used Wolfcom body-worn cameras since at least 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wolfcom FacebookWolfcomWolfcom
Columbia Police Department
The Columbia Police Department uses automated license plate readers as part of a statewide program managed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Post and CourierColumbia Police Department
The Columbia Police Department started using ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology in 2019 at an initial cost of $1.13 million.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The State News
The Columbia Police Department purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $74,629 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
South Carolina Department of Mental Health
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $164,726 to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health in 2017 as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's body-worn camera grant program. The agency purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $85,560 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley ObserverU.S Department of JusticeU.S Department of Justice
Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office
The Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $144,416 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
Columbia Metropolitan Airport Department of Public Safety
The Columbia Metropolitan Airport Department of Public Safety purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $11,030 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
Forest Acres Police Department
The Forest Acres Police Department purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $34,400 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $135,105 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
University of South Carolina Division of Law Enforcement
The University of South Carolina Division of Law Enforcement purchased body-worn cameras in 2016 with a $33,300 grant through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Berkeley Observer
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026