What: Automated license plate readers are cameras installed on polls along roadways or are mounted on police vehicles that photograph the license plate number and distinctive features of all cars that drive past. These cameras are constantly monitoring and sharing all data to a central server for police access. Like other technologies, ALPRs have misreads and errors

Common Vendors: Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions/Vigilant Solutions, ELSAG, Rekor

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS

What: Cameras recording daily life are likely the most common example of digital surveillance technologies. In recent years, the capabilities of cameras have expanded to include 360 degree recording or cameras which can “pan, tilt, zoom” which make it easier for police to monitor a larger geographic area. The power of surveillance cameras has increased with the growth of video analytics products, like Briefcam, and tools which aggregate camera feeds, like Fusus, into an easy interface for police to monitor.

Vendors: Motorola Solutions, Verkada

What: Facial recognition tools are used to identify or verify the identity of an individual from photos or video footage in real-time or retroactively using the person’s face. This biometric technology can follow people across multiple camera feeds and poses serious risks to criminalized communities. Like other surveillance tech, facial recognition is prone to misidentifying darker skinned people, women, transgender, and nonbinary people.

Vendors: Clearview AI, Dataworks Plus

AUDIO GUNSHOT DETECTION TECHNOLOGY

What: Audio gunshot detection tools are microphones that record loud sounds and initiate police dispatch to the location of the sound. Competing products from vendors in the market have different technical features and claims in terms of the product’s capacities and capabilities. There is very little, if any, independent research that conclusively proves these tools have a legitimate function in preventing gun violence or saving lives.

Vendors: SoundThinking, Flock Safety, EAGL

What: Predictive policing technologies use historic crime data (among other data like the weather) to anticipate when, where, and who might commit a crime. These tools tend to take two forms. One is hot spot mapping where police are directed to specific locations at specific times when historic crime indicate a future crime might occur. Another form is predicting who might commit a crime, leading police to intervene before a crime is committed. By using historic crime data, predictive policing algorithms reinforce historic patterns of racist policing practices.

Vendors: SoundThinking, PredPol/Geolitica, Hunchlab

What: Drones are aircraft technologies which are remote controlled and do not require a pilot onboard. Police use drones as tools for additional surveillance technology, such as cameras or gunshot detection tools. Increasingly, cities are using “drones as first responders” where drones are immediately dispatched in response to a 911 call. Police have also been known to use drones to monitor protests and other activities that are Constitutionally protected.

Vendors: DJI, Paladin, Skydio

What: Social media monitoring is the easiest form of surveillance for police to monitor the activities of specific people, organizations, and communities. Police monitor social media using a variety of methods. Police will often use fake accounts to track certain people or infiltrate groups. Police use social media to monitor planned protests and other actions that may pose a security threat. Police agencies will also contract with companies who sell software which can perform keyword or network analyses, allowing police to know common discussion themes among certain groups of people on different social media platforms.

Vendors: Dataminr, Geofeedia, Babbel Street, Cobwebs

What: These tools are designed to replicate a cellphone tower in order to trick cellphones within the vicinity of the tool to connect to the device. When a cellphone connects to a cellsite simulator, the device collects the phone’s IMSI unique number, allowing the police to identify the cellphones that were in the proximity of the cellsite simulator at a specific time. Some cellsite simulators can also intercept unencrypted text messages and other communications. Police have used these at protests in order to identify protestors.

Vendors: Stingray from the Harris Corporation

What: Forensic extraction devices enable police to bypass a cellphone’s security system and copy everything that is saved on a cellphone. If the police come into possession of a cellphone, the officer will just need to plug the extraction device into the phone and either make a full copy of what is stored on the cellphone or selectively save certain data from the cellphone. Once the police have this data, they can use other software to sift through it and identify any highly sensitive information that was saved on the cellphone.

Vendors: Cellebrite, Graykey

What: Companies selling this technology claim it uses software to visually detect patterns of weapons seen on surveillance cameras installed in highly sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals, and public transit systems. These products are new with little evidence of their efficacy or effectiveness from either independent research or data collected from customers.

Vendors: ZeroEyes

What: Video analytics software is used in conjunction with surveillance cameras. These software programs are investigative tools for police as the tools allow users to search recorded video footage in order to identify specific moments or situations recorded by cameras. These softwares can integrate other biometric systems, such as facial recognition.

Vendors: Briefcam

What: These software programs are growing rapidly as more cities are creating “real time crime centers.” Situational awareness software integrates multiple feeds and datasets from different surveillance vendors and technologies into one map interface of the police agency’s jurisdiction. These products allow police to monitor what data the array of surveillance technologies are gathering in real time for the purposes of emergency management and dispatch.

Vendors: Fusus, Genetec, Flock