Authorities Using the Fear of Crime to Take Away Black People’s Imaginary 4th Amendment Rights: Liar Richmond Police Claim the Purpose of Using Cameras to Watch People 24-7 is Safety

From [HERE] In late February, the Richmond Police Department responded to a shooting in a West Broad Street alley that left a 24-year-old man dead. Eleven days later, the department announced it had made an arrest.

While the typical homicide can take months or even years to solve, police managed to make an arrest in days — a feat made possible, officials said, through technology.

Interim Police Chief Rick Edwards said the department used video footage from cameras across the city to identify a vehicle, run the license plate number and find a suspect.

With backing from the state, promised investments from the city and Edwards’ data-driven policing plan, this could become a regular occurrence as the department makes strides into the digital age.

While the introduction of newer, more advanced technology could result in faster arrests, some groups, including civil rights activists and data researchers, have raised concerns. They allege that such programs, if not conducted properly, could reinforce systemic racism, hurt communities and infringe on Fourth Amendment rights.

Matt Callahan, a senior attorney with the Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the use of technology in policing can be a slippery slope and should raise Fourth Amendment concerns. With the implementation of surveillance cameras and license plate readers, Callahan said there could be more arrests, and that some people may not know how they were apprehended or if surveillance played a part in their arrests.

“I think one of the really insidious things about these predictive policing tools that categorize people into threat levels, based on something other than a criminal record, is that people don’t always know that they’re being affected by it,” Callahan said. “It really threatens the kind of freedoms that our democracy is built on.” [MORE]