Last month, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a landmark policy putting in place long-overdue requirements on how federal agencies can – and cannot – use artificial intelligence.
Here are our main takeaways on what it means for law enforcement.
The Policing Project at NYU School of Law, the global law firm Jones Day, the law firm Lawrence & Bundy, and Canfield Law LLC have filed an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the dismissal of a civil rights lawsuit against Clayton County police. A range of groups and individuals, including law enforcement officials; Tyler Perry, Jamie Foxx, and other prominent Black actors; empirical scholars; Cato Institute; NAACP Legal Defense Fund; Institute for Justice; ACLU of Georgia, have filed amicus briefs in support of the appeal.
This week, we’re highlighting testimony we provided to the New York City Council on how the NYPD has skirted democratic accountability in deploying intrusive policing technologies.
During this year’s legislative session, we provided input and drafting support on 36 pieces of legislation or regulations across 12 states. Notably, 22 of these engagements came at the express invitation of state or local partners, including both advocates and lawmakers. The most popular topics were use of force, officer decertification, and data collection and transparency, but legislators also sought to address a wide range of others, from warrant reform to police use of robots, and more.
The Oregon TITAN Fusion Center is a covert domestic spying program run by the Oregon Department of Justice that targets the people of Oregon with aggressive and illegal surveillance. Our lawsuit, Farrell-Smith v. Oregon, is brought by environmental, indigenous rights, and social justice advocates who peacefully protested a $10 billion fossil fuel pipeline and were targeted by TITAN.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability needs experts from a variety of fields, including law, organizing and public safety. We must demand that the mayor and council members find the best residents, as there may be no more important issue facing the city than the safety of our residents.
Philadelphia’s just became the first major city to ban traffic stops for minor violations. The “driving equality” law presents a real opportunity to improve police-community relations and reduce dangerous encounters between officers and motorists. While the city’s decision to decrease these types of stops should be applauded, real change must happen at the state level.
Last week, in two unsigned opinions, the Supreme Court showed its disdain for police reform. Taken together, they create an almost insurmountable barrier to holding police officers responsible for violating people’s constitutional rights. With this latest move, the Supreme Court has abdicated its responsibility to regulate police behavior. Now legislators must step up and do what the justices won’t.
Last week, Chicago City Council Members voted to pass legislation that will create a “Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.” This is a significant victory for Empowering Communities for Public Safety – a coalition of community organizers in Chicago, who collectively have worked on this issue for decades. The Policing Project was privileged to work with the organizers, lending drafting and strategic assistance.
Social science research strongly suggests the advancement of women officers is associated with improved outcomes for both policing agencies and the communities they serve. Yet women make up only 12% of sworn police officers and less than 3% of police leadership in the U.S., numbers that have remained stagnant for decades. We want to change this.
Last year saw a renewed focus on policing reform and the widespread deployment of new technologies, such as aerial surveillance and facial recognition. Amidst these changes, the work of the Axon AI Ethics Board was as vital as ever. Today, the Board releases its end of year report detailing its work over calendar year 2020.
One of the big campaign promises Joe Biden made last summer as Americans took to the streets to demand racial justice was policing reform. He had to walk a careful line between activists who wanted to defund the police and many others who wanted to make more modest adjustments to police policies. Now, caught in the middle, the risk is the new administration might end up accomplishing far less than it should.
The Policing Project and the Center for Criminal Justice at the University of Virginia School of Law have released clear and actionable recommendations the new Administration can pursue as part of a national commitment to sound policing, largely by taking a regulatory approach to national policing policy.
The Policing Project’s new guidance provides an overview of how to police demonstrations to protect public safety and democratic freedoms. Drawn largely from what policing leaders themselves have identified as best practices as well as evidence-based research, we outline a clear approach that emphasizes transparent communication, de-escalation, and a healthy relationship between police and the communities they serve.
The Policing Project has released suite of resources outlining concrete steps policing agencies, elected officials, and communities can take to improve policing transparency and accountability. These materials provide clear and reasonable guidance on three critical areas: accessibility of agency policy manuals, community oversight, and agency transparency.
Today, the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) and the Policing Project at New York University School of Law released a new guidebook for law enforcement agencies, government officials and communities with best practices for collecting, analyzing and responding to data about traffic and pedestrian stops by law enforcement—a critical but often overlooked aspect of policing.
New York University School of Law today announced additional philanthropic funding to support the Policing Project. The expansion comes at a critical moment, as the death of community members at the hands of the police and discriminatory enforcement of orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the urgent need for this work.
As announced today by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Policing Project Faculty Director and Founder Barry Friedman will serve as a special advisor to help guide and support the New York Attorney General’s investigation into the recent interactions between the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and protesters following the death of George Floyd.
