Pro Bono | Americas

Surveillance report

In collaboration with the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), a New York-based privacy group, we released “New CCOPS On The Beat,” a report on the growth and effectiveness of local surveillance laws. The report details the growth and variation in Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) laws that have been passed by more than a dozen jurisdictions, imposing transparency for surveillance purchases and outlawing facial recognition in some jurisdictions.

Key findings of the report include:

• At least 15 jurisdictions have enacted CCOPS ordinances in recent years;
• Successful jurisdictions have seen significant transparency and accountability improvements in police surveillance as a result;
• Given how recently CCOPS laws were enacted, it is too early to know in many jurisdictions whether the laws are having a meaningful effect; and
• New York City is a significant outlier, having the weakest CCOPS law, and having seen minimal compliance from the NYPD.

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