Galveston County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Galveston 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
Friendswood Police Department
The Friendswood Police Department has used drones since 2019 and launched a drone as first responder program in 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Community ImpactCity of FriendswoodCity of Friendswood
The Friendswood Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): City of Alvin
The Friendswood Police Department has 45 body cameras as of 2016. This accounted for "74% of its total sworn 61 officers."
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Community Impact NewspaperHouston Chronicle
Galveston County Sheriff's Office
The Galveston County Sheriff's Office has installed 13 Flock Safety automated license plate readers, according to data obtained in July 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Muckrock
Galveston County Sheriff's Office received a Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant of $85,250.00 for body-worn cameras in 2021.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Office of the Governor, Texas
Hitchcock Police Department
The Hitchcock Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers, according to data obtained in July 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Muckrock
La Marque Police Department
The La Marque Police Department has installed 50 Flock Safety automated license plate readers, according to data obtained in July 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Muckrock
Kemah Police Department
The Kemah Police Department operates eight Flock Safety automated license plate readers and other cameras as of June 2025. The agency stores ALPR data for 30 days.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Flock Safety
The Kemah Police Department received $20,481 towards its body-worn camera program in September 2024 from the Texas Governor's Public Safety Office.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Texas Office of the Governor
League City Police Department
The League City Police Department received $57,886 towards its body-worn camera program in November 2024 from the Texas Governor's Public Safety Office.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Texas Office of the Governor
The Texas Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority gave the League City Police Department a grant to purchase automated license plate readers in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Community ImpactMotor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority
Santa Fe Police Department
The Santa Fe Police Department submitted a policy related to drones and the use of force to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Texas Commission On Law Enforcement
Dickinson Police Department
The Dickinson Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Caldwell County
Dickinson Police Department received $66,000 to purchase 33 body-worn cameras through the Small, Rural and Tribal Body-Worn Camera program in 2024.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): SRT BWC Program
Texas City Police Department
The Texas City Police Department uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Caldwell County
Santa Fe Independent School District
Santa Fe purchased facial recognition from AnyVision in 2019.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Security MagazineThe Markup
Galveston Police Department
The Galveston Police Department has body-worn cameras.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Fox 7 Austin
Texas City Independent School District
Texas City Independent School District purchased facial recognition technology in 2019 as part of a multi-million dollar security upgrade.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): The Wall Street JournalTexas City Independent School DistrictABC 13
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026