Police are increasingly using surveillance technology and military equipment to further entrench racial bias into the criminal justice system, invade peoples' privacy, and wrongfully arrest innocent people. Without community oversight, these technologies threaten to:
- Destroy the idea of being anonymous in public
- Reinforce racial biases that already exist in policing
- Widen racial disparities in stops and arrests by misidentifying Black, brown and Indigneous people
- Make it easier for authorities like ICE to target vulnerable groups
Now, Minneapolis has a chance to reign this in with a new measure called POSTME: Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology and Military Equipment. Take action now. Tell the Minneapolis City Council to ban facial recognition and increase community oversight of police surveillance.
(This link will redirect to our community partners at POSTME.)