For the past few months, City Council members Oliver Thomas and Eugene Green have been working on an ordinance to officially grant New Orleans police and other law enforcement agencies the full authority to use around-the-clock facial recognition technology and cell-site simulators to surveil people in public. This dangerous expansion of surveillance technology would violate our fundamental constitutional rights against warrantless search and seizure, and threaten the safety, privacy, and civil liberties of residents and visitors to New Orleans.
The following fact sheet outlines how surveillance tech repeats systemic patterns of racial discrimination and is weaponized to target marginalized communities, all while draining city funding that could be invested into education, job creation, and other essential community services.
Developed in partnership with Eye on Surveillance and Fight for the Future.
- Type Fact Sheets