Cameras, License-Plate Readers, and a $1.28 Million Price Tag: What the Records Show
This year, the University spent $1,276,826.57 on equipment, licenses, installation, taxes, shipping, and related expenses for 89 surveillance cameras that collect biometric data. Among the equipment purchased includes Verkada Command Connectors, which bring compatible third-party cameras into its Command platform. This means that a regular camera can be turned plugged in to surveil.
What are the cameras, and what information can they collect?
There are several types of video-surveillance equipment installed on campus: bullet cameras, indoor and outdoor dome cameras, two- and four-camera multisensor units, and pan-tilt-zoom, or PTZ cameras. Additional equipment purchased also includes horn speakers, cellular gateways, mounting equipment, and software licenses.
Verkada cameras collect video and supported models can generate searchable information about people and vehicles. Manufacturer documentation describes people and vehicle motion searches, while its dome-camera datasheet describes features including attribute filtering and face search.
License-plate recognition is a separate function. Verkada states that its LPR mode is available on supported bullet cameras, and that people and vehicle analytics are disabled when a camera operates in that mode.
What does that mean per police report?
In 2026, UAPD identified 13 police reports that mentioned Verkada. Those incidents include two “assist other agency,” three “other” larceny, three bicycle larceny, one assault, one criminal damage, one suspicious activity, one assault/minor injury, and one civil matter.
Dividing the spreadsheet’s $1,276,826.57 total by those 13 unique incidents produces approximately $98,217.43 per listed incident.
Send President Garimella an email to let him know Tucson does not want surveillance on campus or anywhere in Pima County. Samples scripts can be found on our website. Be sure to cc: us! president@arizona.edu
Samples email scripts here: https://deflocktucson.com/resources/
Yours in community,
Deflock Tucson
“No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused.”
—Edward Snowden