Crosscut Now
Jul. 27, 2023 - Federal aid supercharges surveillance
7/28/2023 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Federal aid is supercharging local WA police surveillance tech.
Pandemic relief funds are bankrolling new – and often unregulated – law enforcement tools such as license-plate readers, drones and AI video software.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Jul. 27, 2023 - Federal aid supercharges surveillance
7/28/2023 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Pandemic relief funds are bankrolling new – and often unregulated – law enforcement tools such as license-plate readers, drones and AI video software.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Crosscut Now
Crosscut Now is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(upbeat music) - I'm Paris Jackson in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.
Across the state, one-time Federal relief dollars are bankrolling increasingly sophisticated means of surveilling with few legal safeguards.
Local governments have acquired drones, body cameras, and other technology.
The Spokane County Sheriff's Office is one of those agencies using a program called Flock Safety, a searchable database that collects photos from a network of 46 automatic license plate reader cameras placed at high traffic intersections.
Spokane County's advanced tools will extend into its real-time crime center, a multi-city effort to create a surveillance hub.
The nearly $5 million project will also drastically expand the agency's ability to peer into the lives of people who are not suspected of committing crimes.
Research has shown AI-powered tools like facial recognition can reproduce the biases of its operators, potentially amplifying existing discriminatory policing practices against communities of color.
(upbeat music) I'm Paris Jackson, find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.
(upbeat music)
- News and Public Affairs
Top journalists deliver compelling original analysis of the hour's headlines.
- News and Public Affairs
FRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world.
Support for PBS provided by:
Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS