California
Butte County
On record
Checked 20 Aug 2026- Technologies
- 3
- Systems
- 7
- Devices mapped
- 236
Butte County, California. Device data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), with community reporting via DeFlock. Open the full map →
Butte County’s research pass read the published policies of the Sheriff’s Office and Chico Police, the Sheriff’s environmental notices for roadside license plate readers, both agencies’ military equipment inventories, and local reporting on Chico’s 2026 data-sharing disclosure, Oroville’s Flock program, and Chico Unified’s campus cameras, and the records-request page showing a Sheriff purchase record for Clearview AI. The Board of Supervisors’ agendas (discovery failed) and the Chico council’s Granicus record (closed to our tools) were not read on this pass and remain open.
What's in use here
The Sheriff's Office documented roadside Flock Safety readers through two state environmental notices, twelve in 2024 and four more on Caltrans right-of-way in 2025, at named highway intersections and the county lines. Its policy says the data is held by an outside provider and released under that provider's agreement.
Chico Police's published policy says reader detections are shared with agencies in four states and with federal law enforcement. In July 2026 the department said it had stopped federal and out-of-state sharing after a records request showed the access.
The Oroville City Council approved a two-year Flock Safety contract for 40 cameras in April 2023, according to the Enterprise-Record, and renewed it in 2025 at about $122,000 a year, according to KRCR, which also reported that 321 outside agencies in California have access.
The Sheriff's military equipment policy inventories two BRINC Lemur S drones, three Autel EVO II bundles listed with a DJI Mavic 3, and a donated DJI Mavic II Pro. The policy describes the Lemur S as able to enter structures and locate people inside.
Chico Police says its drone program began in July 2021 and flies 13 aircraft with ten licensed pilots. Its 2026 military equipment policy lists fifteen drones across six models and asks for three more Skydio X10 aircraft to build a Drone as First Responder program.
In response to a public records request about Clearview AI, the Sheriff's Office released two files whose titles are a purchase order, "PO-1620 & Attachment," and an approved "Exceptions to Solicitation Justification Form." We have not read the files.
Chico Unified's board approved a Verkada camera system for 691 locations, at about $2 million, on its consent calendar in December 2025, according to KRCR and ChicoSol, and voted unanimously in February 2026 not to activate the facial recognition feature.
Who runs it
The agency is the accountability unit: who voted, whose policy applies, and who answers a records request.
| Agency | Jurisdiction | AB 481 policy | SB 34 policy | Systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butte County Sheriff's Office | Butte County | Posted | On file | 3 |
| Chico Police Department | City of Chico | Posted | Posted | 2 |
| Chico Unified School District | Chico Unified School District | — | — | 1 |
| Oroville Police Department | City of Oroville | — | Not found on the site | 1 |
| 4 agencies on record. A jointly run system counts against each of its operators, so this column is not a county total. "Posted" means the policy is published where the law requires it. "On file" means we hold the document. "Not posted" and "not found" mean we could not find it on the agency's own website on the date shown; they say nothing about how the system is used. An agency with a dash has not been checked, which is not a finding. | ||||
Trackers
Meetings, contracts, records
Nothing listed yet. The trackers launch here, and facts appear only with their sources.
How the inventory works →What you can do
Civic action
Show up
Public comment is open to any resident, and you do not have to be an expert to use it. We have not yet confirmed where the bodies that decide for Butte County meet. How the inventory works explains what we check and how to check it yourself.
How the inventory works →Personal protection
Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
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