Major cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are gearing up to establish Real-Time Crime Centers, positioned as pivotal hubs for the seamless integration of various police technologies and data. Described as a "nerve center," these facilities typically amalgamate public surveillance video with diverse police technologies such as license plate readers, facial recognition, drone cameras, body camera footage, and gunshot detection software. The proliferation of these centers has become widespread, with at least 135 currently operational across the country, according to reports.
Advocates assert that these centers enhance law enforcement's ability to solve crimes and apprehend suspects efficiently. However, critics express concerns about privacy infringement and fear that the heightened surveillance might disproportionately target marginalized communities, including Black individuals.
These crime centers increasingly blur the boundaries between private and public surveillance sources. In certain cities like Atlanta and Albuquerque, the number of private cameras supplying data to law enforcement significantly surpasses public ones. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy non-profit, highlights the changing landscape, pointing out the surge in camera-equipped devices and the shift from tape to cloud storage for footage. This shift allows police to directly access images from storage companies rather than relying on residents or business owners who control the recording devices.
Notably, companies like Ring, owned by Amazon, have faced scrutiny for sharing audio and video from customer doorbells with police without explicit user consent. The increased availability of camera footage, often accessible through police programs or after specific requests, can introduce novel surveillance methods. For instance, in San Francisco, investigators, while reviewing doorbell camera footage for a hit-and-run case, discovered footage from a nearby Waymo self-driving vehicle. This trend may expand as self-driving cars become more prevalent.
Autonomous machines, beyond cars, are also becoming potential tools for surveillance. In Los Angeles, the robot food delivery company Serve Robotics provided LAPD with footage in a criminal case where the robot itself was the target of an attempted "bot-napping." The ambiguity in company policies raises questions about the sharing of footage in cases where the robots incidentally capture relevant information.
While some private cameras may unintentionally capture pertinent information, others actively seek it. A recent instance involves the city of St. Louis issuing a cease-and-desist letter to an entrepreneur planning to operate a private drone security program marketed as a crime deterrent.
