Who runs license plate readers in Sacramento County?
- Active License plate readers
- Agency
- Sacramento County Sheriff's Office
- Vendor
- —
- Devices
- —
- Active License plate readers
- Agency
- Sacramento Police Department
- Vendor
- —
- Devices
- —
| System | Agency | Vendor | Status | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License plate readers | Sacramento County Sheriff's Office | — | Active | — |
| License plate readers | Sacramento Police Department | — | Active | — |
On the map
- 0
- Verified by us
- 777
- Community-reported
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.
What we do not know
Sacramento County Sheriff
- Whether the office updated its plate reader policy. The grand jury asked for an updated policy, conspicuously posted, by 1 October 2024. The copy the website served us on 25 August 2026 carries a 2016 revision mark. A newer order may exist and not be posted, which is a different thing from no newer order, and we cannot tell which from outside.
- What the office told the grand jury it would do. An elected sheriff must respond in writing to each finding and recommendation within 60 days, saying for each whether it has been implemented, will be implemented, needs further study, or will not be implemented and why. We have not read that response.
- Whether the quarterly internal audits and annual external audit the grand jury asked for exist, and whether their results were published.
- How many cameras the office operates, where they are, and what the system costs. No document we read gives any of these.
- What records retention schedule sets the two-year period. The general order cites Government Code section 34090, which is the general local records statute rather than a plate reader rule.
Sacramento Police
- Whether the department still shares plate data outside California. The grand jury's finding describes the position in mid-2024 and asked for compliance by 1 January 2025. We have found no document either way since.
- Whether the department responded to the grand jury at all. Its response was invited rather than required, so one may not exist.
- What this department's own plate reader policy says about retention, access and sharing. We have not read it. California law requires it to be published.
- How many cameras the department operates and what the system costs.
- What the department shared, and with which agencies in those four states, and on what terms.
What license plate readers are
An automated license plate reader photographs every passing vehicle and records the plate, the time and the place. It does not watch suspects. It logs everyone, and the record is usually kept on a vendor’s servers.
How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →
What you can do
Civic action
Show up
This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Sacramento County.
Go to the Sacramento County hub →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.
Surveillance Self-Defense ↗