California
El Dorado County
On record
Checked 20 Aug 2026- Technologies
- 2
- Systems
- 4
- Devices mapped
- 94
El Dorado County, California. Device data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), with community reporting via DeFlock. Open the full map →
El Dorado County’s research pass read the Board of Supervisors items approving the Sheriff’s military equipment ordinance and the August 2025 Flock Safety purchase, the Sheriff’s and South Lake Tahoe’s policy manuals and annual military equipment reports, the 2020 civil grand jury report on county drone use, and the El Dorado Hills Community Services District’s reader policy. The District Attorney’s drone program, last documented in that 2020 report, is held as a draft until a current record is found. The Flock contract itself, the council records of South Lake Tahoe, and local news coverage were not read on this pass and remain open.
What's in use here
The Sheriff's 2026 military equipment report inventories fifteen drones across seven models, thirteen of them DJI and two BRINC Lemur. The civil grand jury reported in 2020 that the office launched its first drone in 2016 and assigns ten deputies and two sergeants to its Drone Unit.
South Lake Tahoe Police's 2025 military equipment report lists three drones, five deployments in 2025, and two purchases that year: a DJI Matrice at $15,114 and a DJI Mini 4 at $1,249.
El Dorado Hills Community Services District, an elected parks district, runs its own license plate readers under a policy adopted in September 2022 that purges data after 60 days and lists measuring "community engagement" among the system's purposes.
The Board of Supervisors approved a $113,000 Flock Safety purchase contract for the Sheriff's Office in August 2025, two years and "perpetually renewable," exempt from competitive bidding. The Sheriff's policy allows release to other law enforcement agencies on an approved written request and states no in-state limit.
Who runs it
The agency is the accountability unit: who voted, whose policy applies, and who answers a records request.
| Agency | Jurisdiction | SB 34 policy | Systems |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Dorado County Sheriff's Office | El Dorado County | On file | 2 |
| El Dorado Hills Community Services District | El Dorado Hills | On file | 1 |
| South Lake Tahoe Police Department | City of South Lake Tahoe | On file | 1 |
| 3 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 El Dorado 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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