Dane County
County record. Includes every city and agency within Dane 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
Cottage Grove Police Department
The Cottage Grove Police Department operates eight Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
All officers in the Cottage Grove Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Marshall Police Department
The Marshall Police Department operates two Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
All officers in the Marshall Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Middleton Police Department
The Middleton Police Department operates three Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
All officers in the Middleton Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Monona Police Department
The Monona Police Department operates four Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
All officers in the Monona Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Verona Police Department
The Verona Police Department operates four Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
All officers in the Verona Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Waunakee Police Department
The Waunakee Police Department operates three Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
All officers in the Waunakee Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Wisconsin State Capitol Police Department
The Wisconsin State Capitol Police Department operates six Flock Safety automated license plate readers as of September 2025.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Pittsboro Police Department
Sun Prairie Police Department
The Sun Prairie Police Department operates six 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
All officers in the Sun Prairie Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Maple Bluff Police Department
As of April 2024, the Maple Bluff Police Department operates seven 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
Some officers in the Maple Bluff Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
DeForest Police Department
All officers in the DeForest Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey. The Deforest Police Department also received a Small, Rural, and Tribal Body-Worn Camera Program grant for $1,185.00 for 6 body-worn cameras in 2023.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of JusticeJustice & Security StrategiesJustice & Security Strategies
The DeForest Police Department purchased a drone equipped thermal imaging technology in 2022.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): DeForest Police Department
Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles
The Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles uses face recognition. It responds to queries from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which includes federal and state law enforcement agency requests.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Electronic Frontier Foundation
Dane County Sheriff's Office
The Dane County Sheriff's Office 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.faa.gov
McFarland Police Department
Some officers in the Mc Farland Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
The McFarland Police Department operates one drone, 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.mcfarland.wi.us
Wisconsin State Patrol
The Wisconsin State Patrol operates two drones 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 Collegewisconsindot.gov
The Wisconsin State Patrol uses predictive policing software.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin State Patrol Predictive Analytics
Fitchburg Police Department
All officers in the Fitchburg Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Madison Police Department
The Madison Police Department operates one DJI Phantom drone as of 2017, 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 Collegehost.madison.com
Madison Town Police Department
All officers in the Madison Town Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Oregon Police Department
All officers in the Oregon Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
Stoughton Police Department
All officers in the Stoughton Police Department wear body-worn cameras, according to a 2020 Wisconsin Department of Justice survey.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin Department of Justice
University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department began using L3 body-worn cameras in 2015.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Wisconsin State JournalUW-Madison PDUW-Madison PD
Shorewood Hills Police Department
The Shorewood Hills Police Department implemented a body-worn camera policy in 2018.
Sources (via the EFF Atlas): Village of Shorewood Hills PD's Website
Source: EFF Atlas of Surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation & University of Nevada, Reno — Reynolds School of Journalism) · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved July 2026