Resources

While federal law enforcement agencies involved in Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) paint the program as a community outreach initiative dedicated to stopping people from becoming violent extremists, the reality is that these programs, which are based on junk science, have proven to be ineffective, discriminatory, and divisive. This report shares what you need to know about the dangers of CVE programs and why the framework should be abandoned rather than rehabilitated.

Concerned about the militarization of law enforcement, a source within the intelligence community has provided The Intercept with a secret, internal U.S. government catalogue of dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and by intelligence agencies. Some of the devices are already in use by federal law enforcement and local police forces domestically, and civil liberties advocates believe others will eventually find their way into use inside the U.S. This product catalogue provides rare insight into the current spy capabilities of local law enforcement and offers a preview of the future of mass surveillance of mobile communications.

This is a brief collection of information on how and why false confessions occur and why instituting policies of recording interrogations can help protect individuals being interrogated. It also highlights states and federal agencies that already have this policy in place.

This is a collection of information and action items around the use of facial recognition by government and law enforcement.

This interactive map shows where facial recognition surveillance is happening, where it’s spreading to next, and where there are local and state efforts to rein it in.

This is a collection of information and resources created by the ACLU around their Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) effort, including a map of participating cities. The effort’s principal objective is to pass CCOPS laws that ensure residents, through local city councils are empowered to decide if and how surveillance technologies are used, through a process that maximizes the public’s influence over those decisions.

A collection of media, legislative materials, and other resources relating to work on the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act currently active in New York City. These resources are intended to provide policymakers, journalists, and the public with more information.

In March 2017, the New York City Council introduced a bill to increase transparency and oversight over the NYPD’s use of sophisticated new surveillance technologies and information sharing networks. Dubbed the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, the legislation requires the NYPD to disclose basic information about the surveillance tools it uses and the safeguards in place to protect the privacy and civil liberties of New Yorkers. This collection of resources is intended to provide journalists, policy-makers, and the public information about the POST Act.

Spot the Surveillance is a virtual reality (VR) experience that teaches people how to identify the various spying technologies that police may deploy in communities.