surveillance_spending

A DISCOVERY INDEX of surveillance and police-technology dollar figures found in local government meeting records across 130+ named vendors — NOT a table of confirmed spending, and NOT safe to SUM. An audit on 2026-07-29 found aggregate views were adding amounts that must not be added: the same procurement recurs at committee, council, approval, amendment and renewal stages; "not to exceed" figures are authorization ceilings, not payments. Use the canned query "the CONSERVATIVE total" for any number you intend to publish, and "data-quality report" to see what is flagged. Columns added for this: `amount_type` (stated / ceiling / proposed / recommended / estimated), `dup_rank` (>1 = redundant copy), `geo_suspect` (city disagrees with the source link), `anomaly` (implausible figure), `state_norm` (normalized state). Vendors covered include ALPR (Flock, Vigilant, Genetec), body cameras/tasers (Axon, WatchGuard, Utility, Getac), gunshot detection (ShotSpotter/SoundThinking), face recognition (Clearview AI, DataWorks Plus), fingerprint biometrics (Idemia AFIS/Livescan, filed separately under `sv:biometrics`), data fusion and OSINT (Fusus, Peregrine, LexisNexis Accurint, Thomson Reuters CLEAR), phone forensics (Cellebrite, GrayKey, Magnet), drones (Skydio, BRINC, DJI), cameras/VMS (Verkada, Avigilon), cell-site simulators, CAD/RMS records systems, photo enforcement, jail-call and student monitoring. Every row carries a VERBATIM quote from the minutes and a link to the source document, and a row only publishes if that quote was found character-for-character in the source text. READ THE `ledger` COLUMN: `sv:<category>:<vendor>`. `radio_infra` (two-way radios), `rms` (records/CAD software), `biometrics` (fingerprints) and `not_surveillance` are NOT surveillance sensors — exclude them before quoting any surveillance figure.

Data license: CC BY 4.0 · Data source: MyTown

10 rows where ledger = "sv:forensics:berla" sorted by amount descending

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Suggested facets: city, spend_date, product, amount, quote, amount_type, state_norm, spend_date (date)

state 6

vendor 1

ledger 1

  • sv:forensics:berla · 10 ✖
Link rowid vendor city state spend_date product amount ▲ quote source_document mytown_record ledger amount_type dup_rank geo_suspect anomaly state_norm
4211 4211 Berla Wilmington DE 2024-08-06 iVe Toolkit (purchase) 50000.0 Motion to approve O1. Ordinance Making Supplemental Appropriation to the Public Improvements/Equipment Fund from a New Hanover County ABC Board Grant in the Amount of $50,000 for the Purchase of Three eBikes, One BERLA iVe Toolkit, and Three Decibel Meters [Grant Funds] passed 7-0. https://wilmington.granicus.com/MinutesViewer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=6780 https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/gr-wilmington/2024/#m563082 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 DE
4362 4362 Berla San Marcos TX 2026-04-07 vehicle infotainment software (authorize grant application including funds for) 32524.0 autoriza la nueva presentación de una solicitud de subvención para un grupo de trabajo ante la autoridad de prevención de delitos relacionados con vehículos motorizados, con el fin de financiar un puesto de agente de policía a tiempo completo y la continuación del software Berla para el tratamiento de datos de infoentretenimiento de vehículos; se autorizan fondos de contrapartida por un importe de $32,524.00 https://www.sanmarcostx.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04072026-4934 https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/san-marcos-tx/#m24864 sv:forensics:berla ceiling 1 0 0 TX
2559 2559 Berla Gooding County ID 2025-09-29 iVe forensic extraction (renew contracts) 23807.0 Detective Walker requested to use Opioid Funds to renew Cellebrite and Berla contracts and training for $23,807.50. https://www.goodingcounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09292025-838 https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/goodingcounty.org/2025/#m1514055 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 ID
4248 4248 Berla Charlottesville VA 2024-10-21 Toolkit annual fees (appropriated grant funds) 12500.0 the City of Charlottesville, through the Police Department, has received the Virginia Department of State Police, Help Eliminate Auto Theft (HEAT) Program a grant in the amount of $12,500 to be used to send auto theft investigators and/or officers who investigate auto theft-related crimes to training for the Berla Toolkit and to pay for the Berla Toolkit FY 25 annual fees. https://charlottesvilleva.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=5232,plainText=false) https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/charlottesvilleva/2024/#m440524 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 VA
4247 4247 Berla Charlottesville VA 2025-09-15 iVe Toolkit (appropriate) 10000.0 WHEREAS, the City of Charlottesville, through the Police Department, has received a grant from the Virginia Department of State Police’s Help Eliminate Auto Theft (HEAT) Program in the amount of $10,000.00 to be used for sending investigators and/or officers who investigate auto theft- related crimes to training for the BERLA Toolkit and to pay the FY 2026 annual fees for the BERLA Toolkit. https://charlottesvilleva.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=5985,plainText=false) https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/charlottesvilleva/2025/#m440742 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 VA
4193 4193 Berla Pittsburg KS 2026-02-11 computer crimes software (renew) 4250.0 Berla Corp – computer crimes software renewal 4,250.00 https://pittsburgh.granicus.com/MinutesViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=7645 https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/gr-pittsburgh/#m596281 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 KS
4260 4260 Berla Pittsburgh PA 2026-02-11 computer crimes software (renew) 4250.0 Berla Corp – computer crimes software renewal 4,250.00 https://pittsburgh.legistar1.com/pittsburgh/meetings/2026/2/11863_M_Standing_Committees_26-02-11_Meeting_Minutes.pdf https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/pittsburgh/#m335822 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 PA
4191 4191 Berla Pittsburg KS 2025-12-17 Dongle ID software renewal (renew) 3250.0 Berla Corp – Dongle ID software renewal 3,250.00 https://pittsburgh.granicus.com/MinutesViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=7605 https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/gr-pittsburgh/2025/#m596307 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 KS
4261 4261 Berla Pittsburgh PA 2025-12-17 Dongle ID software renewal (renew) 3250.0 Berla Corp – Dongle ID software renewal 3,250.00 https://pittsburgh.legistar1.com/pittsburgh/meetings/2025/12/11802_M_Standing_Committee_25-12-17_Meeting_Minutes.pdf https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/pittsburgh/2025/#m335790 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 PA
4264 4264 Berla Pittsburgh PA 2025-07-16 Dongle ID subscription (approve contract) 3250.0 Berla Corp – Dongle ID subscription 3,250.00 https://pittsburgh.legistar1.com/pittsburgh/meetings/2025/7/11623_M_Standing_Committee_25-07-16_Meeting_Minutes.pdf https://mytown.theboringparts.com/city/pittsburgh/2025/#m335696 sv:forensics:berla stated 1 0 0 PA

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CREATE TABLE surveillance_spending (
  vendor TEXT, city TEXT, state TEXT, spend_date TEXT, product TEXT,
  amount REAL, quote TEXT, source_document TEXT, mytown_record TEXT, ledger TEXT, amount_type TEXT, dup_rank INTEGER, geo_suspect INTEGER, anomaly INTEGER, state_norm TEXT);
CREATE INDEX ix_surv_vendor ON surveillance_spending(vendor);
CREATE INDEX ix_surv_state ON surveillance_spending(state);
CREATE INDEX ix_surv_amount ON surveillance_spending(amount);
CREATE INDEX ix_surv_ledger ON surveillance_spending(ledger);