MediaJustice

Drop Police Tech

Law enforcement agencies nationwide are adapting to the digital age in ways that extend the powers of the United States’ already racially biased criminal legal system. From using social media as a tool of “predictive policing” to the adoption of surveillance drones in major cities, these practices are being advanced without public knowledge or consent—most severely impacting communities of color living on lower incomes. We demand more transparency and less policing.

Key Stats

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117 million

The number of American adults affected by facial recognition searches. Facial Recognition technology is less accurate when running searches on people of color but in particular black women.

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1

Predpol is the number one company offering predictive policing software, using local arrest data to “predict” future crime. It is widely used in secret across the country by local law enforcement.

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100

Law enforcement agencies often use Stingrays to target and locate a specific individual, but the device may incidentally collect data on hundreds of people in the process. While federal agencies are required to get a warrant before using a Stingray, the same does not always apply to local police departments.

About the Campaign

Problem:
Local law enforcement agencies using “predictive policing” practices are rapidly adopting surveillance technologies, from police-worn body cameras to stingray cell phone interceptors, without the knowledge or consent of local communities. Without guiding policies, practices, principles or regulatory parameters, these surveillance technologies supersize the potential for discriminatory policing. [Read more]

Solution:
Working with comrades in our MediaJustice Network, we’re demanding local police departments drop their use of “predictive policing” and ban facial recognition policing. Furthermore, digital privacy legislation should be integrated into a national civil rights act for a digital age. We seek to prevent the Internet and technology from being used as a primary tool to illegally, unconstitutionally, and immorally surveil masses of people of color in this country. [Read more]

Get Involved:
California police want to turn their body cameras into face-scanning surveillance devices, the equivalent of requiring every person to carry and display a photo ID card at all times. Everyone has a right to go about their daily lives without being surveilled and tracked by the government, but this policing proposal will especially harm Black and brown communities that are already most likely to be criminalized. Send an email to a California Senator today demanding action. [Read More]

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