Updated: September 17, 2020
Courtesy of the Aaron Swartz Day Police Surveillance Project
We tried to make it as easy as possible for you to look through these files. If you already know what type of equipment you are looking for, and where, you can determine quickly if we have any documents that are helpful to you.
Below is an Index of Agencies, with zip files of the documentation we received so far, from each of them, in 2019. We’ve also separated the documents into folders by type of equipment:
- Bakersfield Police Department
- Calexico Police Department
- Contra Costa County Sheriff
- El Centro Police Department
- Fresno Police Department
- Imperial County Sheriff
- Kern County Sheriff
- Long Beach Police Department
- Los Angeles County Sheriff
- Los Angeles Police Department
- Monterey County Sheriff
- Oxnard Police Department
- Richmond Police Department
- Sacramento County Sheriff
- Sacramento Police Department
- Salinas Police Department
- San Diego County Sheriff
- San Diego Harbor Police
- San Diego Police Department
- Ventura Police
- Ventura County Sheriff
Note that “No Responsive Documens” only means that the agency is currently representing that they have no documents available on that piece of surveillance technology – presumably because they don’t own any of that type of equipment or software.
Often, after we inform them that we already have proof of something existing, usually from a publicly available news article or a city council agenda or something of that nature, that the agency will suddenly remember their usage, and provide the supporting documentation.
It seems as if most of these agencies are only giving us what they feel they must – perhaps based on what they think is already public knowledge – and saving the rest for when their bluff is called.
So with that in mind, know that we will be confirming everything on this page next year, in terms of confirming that all of the “No Responsive Documents” replies are accurate, and that the agency is not in fact in possession of (owning, borrowing, or whatever) or using the piece of surveillance technology in question.
For the tables below, if there was a response, with accompanying documentation, we have included a link to a zip file of the documents the agency provided to us.
Some of the agencies were quite helpful. Others were a bit unbelievable, such as the Los Angeles Police Department, who claimed “No Responsive Documents” for everything except for Federal MOUS, despite the fact that the existence of more than that is already established by a trove of publicly-available information.
If there were too many documents to be able to upload in one zip, we have split them up for each piece of equipment. Otherwise, the zip files provided contain all the paperwork we received from the agency, with the documents organized neatly into folders by type of equipment, all in one big zip file.
Bakersfield Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | YES |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Calexico Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | No Responsive Documents |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Contra Costa County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zips of relevant docs (by equipment type) |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | YES |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
El Centro Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | No Responsive Documents |
| Facial Recognition | YES |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Fresno Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | No Responsive Documents |
| Drones | No Responsive Documents |
| Facial Recognition | YES |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | YES |
| ShotSpotters | YES |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Imperial County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Kern County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | YES |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Long Beach Police Department
| Equipment | |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | Partial Response |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | YES |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Los Angeles County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | YES |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | YES |
Los Angeles Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | No Responsive Documents |
| Drones | No Responsive Documents |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Monterey County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | No Responsive Documents |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Oxnard Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | Yes |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
‘
Richmond Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | YES |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Sacramento County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | No Responsive Documents |
| Drones | No Responsive Documents |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
Still Awaiting Response! |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | YES |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | YES |
Sacramento Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | No Responsive Documents |
| Drones | No Responsive Documents |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | YES |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | YES |
| Stingrays | (unclear; we may have No Responsive Documentst filed a request; will follow up asap) |
Salinas Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
San Diego County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | YES |
| FLIRs | YES |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
FBI |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
San Diego Harbor Police
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | No Responsive Documents |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | YES |
| FLIRs | YES |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
San Diego Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | YES |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
YES |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | YES |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | YES |
Ventura Police Department
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | YES |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |
Ventura County Sheriff
| Equipment | Zip of relevant docs |
|---|---|
| Body Cameras | YES |
| Drones | YES |
| Facial Recognition | No Responsive Documents |
| FLIRs | No Responsive Documents |
| License Plate Readers | No Responsive Documents |
| Federal MOUS (Memorandums of Understanding) |
No Responsive Documents |
| Predictive Policing | No Responsive Documents |
| ShotSpotters | No Responsive Documents |
| Social Media Monitoring Software | No Responsive Documents |
| Stingrays | No Responsive Documents |