Who flies surveillance drones in Dallas County?
Also listed here because the record shows it
These systems are documented primarily as something else. They appear here because a cited record shows the deployment also does this.
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Axon DeDrone radio-frequency detection software and sensors appear across several priced lines, the largest at $120,591.72. The briefing describes DeDrone and Outpost as "specialized surveillance for drone threats and rapid-deployment fixed cameras for high-crime hotspots".
What we do not know
Axon five-year law enforcement contract [Dallas County Sheriff]
- Whose cameras the 250 Axon Fusus feeds belong to, and whether any are privately owned.
- Whether a camera registration program stands behind those feeds, and what an owner agrees to.
- Where the real time crime center is, who staffs it, and which agencies hold accounts on it.
- How long a plate read from the 137 in-car readers is kept, and whether it joins the Sheriff's Flock collection.
- Where the DeDrone sensors are, and what they record about the people flying detected aircraft.
- Whether the county's artificial intelligence policy has been adopted, what it says, and who enforces the hold until then.
- What becomes of an upload to Axon Community Link that turns out to be evidence of nothing.
- Who sets use policy for the five Constable precincts, which are separately elected agencies.
What drones are
An unmanned aircraft carrying a camera, flown by a public agency. Where a state classes drones as military equipment, as California does, a public policy and a governing-body vote are required before an agency uses one.
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 confirmed where each of them meets in Dallas County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Dallas County →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 ↗