Providence Police Gang Database Policy ‘Tramples Fundamental Constitutional Rights,’ Lawsuit Says
The department is targeting communities of color and violating local and federal law by using broad ‘association’ criteria to list people in a gang database, a Rhode Island community organization claims.
Julia Rock, Lucas Smolcic Larson Jan 10, 2020
Chicago’s Gang Database Can Have ‘Devastating’ Consequences, But There’s No Way To Be Removed From It.
Social media posts, tattoos, or the unvetted word of an officer can lead to inclusion on the list, which is overwhelmingly composed of people of color.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Dec 18, 2019
Legislation on New York City’s Sprawling Systems of Surveillance Finally Gets A Hearing
A City Council Committee considers a bill on NYPD surveillance today.
Ali Winston Dec 18, 2019
Spotlight: The Dangers of Gang Databases and Gang Policing
An NYPD database labels over 18,000 people in New York City as active gang members. Three of the people labeled this way are 13 years old, and more than 400 others are under 18. Nearly 99 percent of the people whose names are in the database are people of color. Nearly 88 percent are Black […]
Vaidya Gullapalli Jul 03, 2019
The LAPD Has a New Surveillance Formula, Powered by Palantir
Los Angeles Police Department analysts are each tasked with maintaining “a minimum” of a dozen ongoing surveillance targets for future targeting, using Palantir software and an updated “probable offender” formula, according to October 2017 documents, obtained through a public records request lawsuit by the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and given exclusively to The Appeal. These […]
George Joseph May 08, 2018
New Documents Reveal How ICE Mines Local Police Databases Across the Country
In cities across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agents can mine local police reports using COPLINK, a data program little known outside law enforcement circles. While public records have revealed ICE’s access to this program in the past, new documents, obtained by the ACLU of Massachusetts and shared with The Appeal, offer the first […]
George Joseph Apr 26, 2018
Police Accountability and Public Defender Groups Demand Transparency on NYPD Gang Policing
Since its initiation in 2013, the NYPD’s gang policing program has operated with little outside scrutiny. Based on evidence it has kept almost entirely hidden from public view, the police have targeted and surveilled entire social networks inside low-income communities, breaking down doors in pre-dawn military-style raids that have resulted in over 2,000 arrests in just the […]
Max Rivlin-Nadler Feb 12, 2018
How Philadelphia’s Social Media-Driven Gang Policing Is Stealing Years From Young People
null null By the end of his senior year in a Philadelphia high school in June 2017, Jamal had missed out on completing his certification in the culinary arts, playing on the basketball team, attending prom, and walking across the stage at his graduation. He was barred from working a job to help his mother […]
Max Rivlin-Nadler Jan 19, 2018