California
San Benito County
On record
Checked 21 Aug 2026- Technologies
- 1
- Systems
- 1
- Devices mapped
- 34
San Benito County, California. Device data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), with community reporting via DeFlock. Open the full map →
Hollister, the county seat and the only substantial city here, bought a surveillance system in August 2023 in the ordinary way: a staff report, a resolution, a vote, four to none, with one council member absent.
The resolution is titled for gunshot detection. Its four recital clauses and its one operative clause all describe gunshot detection. The agreement it authorised also covers up to fifteen automated licence plate readers, and the police chief’s staff report gives those plate readers as one of the reasons the council chose this vendor over the other one that presented. Anyone reading the whole item saw both technologies. The resolution, which is the part that gets numbered and indexed and read back years later, describes one.
Public comment on the item opened at 9.20pm and closed at 9.20pm. Nobody spoke.
The council authorised up to fifteen cameras. It did not set a ceiling: the same staff report explains that residents, schools and homeowners’ associations can buy their own cameras, which the vendor then makes available to the department. The number of cameras the police can search is therefore not something the council decided.
One page covers that system. It is the only thing on this site about San Benito County, and the reason is worth stating plainly. The county government’s own website turns away automated requests and its Board of Supervisors publishes through a portal that does the same, so we have swept neither. Whether the Sheriff’s Office runs any of this, we have not looked.
What's in use here
A resolution titled for gunshot detection bought fifteen plate readers with it. The plate readers were one of the reasons the council chose this vendor. Public comment on the item opened and closed at the same minute.
Who runs it
The agency is the accountability unit: who voted, whose policy applies, and who answers a records request.
| Agency | Jurisdiction | Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Hollister Police Department | City of Hollister | 1 |
| 1 agency on record. A jointly run system counts against each of its operators, so this column is not a county total. | ||
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 San Benito 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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