Shelby County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Shelby 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
Shelby County Sheriff's Office
As of April 2024, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office operates 169 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office 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.faa.gov
Shelby County Sheriff's Office uses the Fusus camera registry system.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): 404 Media
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office has access to a predictive analytics system developed by IBM to identify locations where vehicle crashes and DUIs are likely to occur. All 95 county sheriffs in the state access the system, which is managed by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland SecurityTennessee Department of Safety and Homeland SecurityFox17
Memphis Police Department
The Memphis Police Department began using a ShotSpotter gunshot detectiion system in March 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Daily Memphian
The Memphis Police Department operates one 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.wmcactionnews5.com
The Memphis Police Department acquired a Stingray II cell-site simulator from Harris Corp. in 2013.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): VocativKevin Colliertwitter.com
The Memphis Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Democrat & ChronicleWREG
The Memphis Police Department uses body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): WMC5
The Memphis Police Department maintains a voluntary registry of private and personal surveillance cameras through Motorola Solutions' CityProtect platform.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): CityProtect
The Memphis Police Department developed its real-time crime center in the late 2000s at an initital cost of $3.5 million. The Memphis RTCC taps into various surveilalnce technologies including a city-wide network of 2,100 cameras in 650 locations. The RTCC also houses a wall of more than 40 monitors displaying live security feeds, crime maps, and television news.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): PlanarMemphis FlyerThe Crime Report
Bartlett Police Department
The Bartlett Police Department received a $13,139 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance award for it's body-worn camera program in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Bureau of Justice Assistance, US Department of Justice
The Bartlett Police Department operates one 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.cityofbartlett.org
The Bartlett Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Democrat and Chronicle
Germantown Police Department
The Germantown Police Department began a partnership with Flock Safety for the installation of automated license plate readers in 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Memphis Commercial AppealDemocrat and Chronicle
The Germantown Police Department launched a voluntary security camera registration program in 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Memphis Commercial Appeal
Collierville Police Department
The Collierville Police Department purchased a Flock Safety automated license plate reader in 2019. At least seven neighborhoods have purchased their own ALPRs and share data with the police.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Local ABC 24
Horn Lake Police Department
The Horn Lake Police Department have used Flock Safety automated license plate readers since at least early 2020.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Democrat and Chronicle
Lakeland Police Department
The Lakeland Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Democrat & ChronicleLakelandPlant City Observer
Memphis International Airport Police Department
The Memphis International Airport Police Department operates 10 Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Millington Police Department
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded $50,000 to the Millington 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
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026