Resources

A report that details the various ways police may use facial recognition methods to pursue suspects. There are no rules when it comes to what images police can submit to face recognition algorithms to generate investigative leads. As a consequence, agencies across the country can—and do—submit all manner of “probe photos,” photos of unknown individuals submitted for search against a police or driver license database. These images may be low-quality surveillance camera stills, social media photos with filters, and scanned photo album pictures. Records from police departments show they may also include computer-generated facial features, or composite or artist sketches.

This report details the different, and potentially dangerous, ways that facial surveillance and recognition technology are currently being used and how they could be used in the future. Thanks to face recognition technology, authorities are able to conduct biometric surveillance—pick you out from a crowd, identify you, trace your movements across a city with the network of cameras capturing your face—all completely in secret. No longer is video surveillance limited to recording what happens; it may now identify who is where, doing what, at any point in time.

A toolkit with example policy and legislation that addresses racial equity issues, with a specific example of DNA racial profiling used to make arrests. This guide analyzes the implications of the DNA Arrests Bill SB 935 (p. 4) and provides examples of policies better suited for addressing racial equity.

This report looks at the increasing use of predictive policing systems that are built on data produced during documented periods of flawed, racially biased, and sometimes unlawful practices and policies. Using three case study examples, it examines the negative impact of these systems based on “dirty data.”

A report that looks at differences in attitudes toward police by race and ethnicity in the United States. It also looks at potential influences on these attitudes, such as perceived bias, anxiety about crime, perceived competence of police, cases of police misconduct, and more. The report concludes with potential policies for policing reform.

The key policy points of a city ordinance passed in 2017 on how police should function and how to hold them accountable.

A guide that consists of a series of DO’s and DON’Ts for both police officers and those filming them. It goes beyond outlining legal rights, and instead provides practical recommendations for members of the public on how to approach filming the police and for officers on how to respond to photographers.

Policing Project of NYU Director Barry Friedman speaks with MuckRock regarding the move by safety tech company Axon to shift its production focus from its Taser stun guns to providing increased artificial intelligence services for police departments around the country.

A thesis dissertation that uses survey and interview data to examine the effects of criminal justice involvement on political mobilization and demobilization, distrust in the criminal justice system, and immigration.