Tag Archives: Law enforcement

09Jan/26

The Vigilance Blueprint: A Framework for Community-Led Counter-Surveillance

January 9, 2026SecurityAutomatic number-plate recognition, Countersurveillance, Crime prevention, Hanwha, HIKVISION, Internet privacy, Law enforcement, Mapillary, Mass surveillance, Motorola, National security, National Security Agency, Pan–tilt–zoom camera, Privacy, Security, SHOTSPOTTER, Surveillanceadmin

Jan. 9, 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — This initiative, modeled on the Surveillance Watch concept, empowers citizens to transition from passive subjects of monitoring to active participants in privacy oversight. By leveraging a decentralized network of volunteers, the project creates a high-resolution, grassroots map of surveillance infrastructure—such as facial recognition cameras, license plate readers, and cell-site simulators. The framework addresses the inherent risks of community activism (such as data inaccuracy and volunteer safety) Continue reading →

27Apr/23

Common sense policing

April 27, 2023CrimeArticles, Braverman, Ethos, Law enforcement, Literature, Police, Prevention, Suella Bravermanadmin

Home Secretary Suella Braverman gave a speech at The Public Safety Foundation to set out her ethos for common sense policing.

This speech has been edited to remove political content. Continue reading

16Apr/23

Zambia’s Inspector General of Police Graphel Musamba

April 16, 2023CrimeAfrica, Countries, Graphel Musamba, Hakainde Hichilema, Inspector, Law enforcement, Lemmy Kajoba, Musamba, Police officer, Zambiaadmin

Musamba is a welcome addition to the Zambian government. He is a highly qualified and experienced police officer who is committed to public service. He is also a strong advocate for human rights and the rule of law. I am confident that he will be an effective Inspector General of Police and that he will make a positive contribution to the Zambian people. Continue reading →

19Jan/23

Digital welfare dystopia

January 19, 2023SecurityAtos, Australia, Brisbane, China, Crime prevention, Data mining, Internet privacy, Law enforcement, Lina Dencik, Machine learning, Manchester, Mass surveillance, Melanie Klieve, Melbourne, National security, Netherlands, Philip Alston, Prevention, Profiling, Qian Ji Data Co, Samuel Woodhams Digital, Security, Skills, Surveillance, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdomadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Algorithms to determine welfare payments and detect fraud are becoming standard practice around the world. From Manchester to Melbourne, peoples’ lives are being shaped by secretive tools that determine who is eligible for what, and how much debt is owed.

Although the technology has been around for some time, the outbreak of COVID-19 renewed enthusiasm for the digital welfare state and, for thousands of cash-strapped public bodies, the promise of increased efficiency and lower costs has proven irresistible.
Continue reading →

28Nov/22

Gangs, drill music, and police databases

November 28, 2022SecurityAdemola Adedeji, Awate Suleiman, Bryan Knight, Chicago, Chinx, Closed-circuit television, Crime prevention, Digga, Drill music, Law enforcement, London, META, National security, Police, Prevention, Safety, Security, Selam Gebrekidan, Simone Browne, Surveillance, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdomadmin

The Met has overhauled its ‘Gangs Violence Matrix’ database following a legal challenge by human rights organisation, Liberty. The tool is used by the police force to identify and monitor people suspected of being involved in gang-related crime.
Continue reading →

21Nov/22

Neurotechnology Announces the Release of SentiVeillance Cluster, Ready-to-Use Software for Surveillance Systems with Clustered Architecture Implementation for Smart-city-scale Projects

November 21, 2022SecurityAutomatic number-plate recognition, Biometrics, Crime prevention, Identification, Law enforcement, National security, Prevention, Security, Skills, Surveillanceadmin

Neurotechnology, a provider of deep learning-based solutions and high-precision biometric identification technologies, today announced the release of SentiVeillance Cluster for real-time biometric face identification, tracking of people and vehicles and automatic vehicle license plate recognition. The solution has been designed for expansive surveillance systems supporting continuous video streams from multiple servers. It provides operators with structured and sorted live data, enabling faster decision-making in a variety of scenarios, including law enforcement, security and smart city monitoring applications. Continue reading

15Nov/22

Facial recognition: An ethical policing tool?

November 15, 2022SecurityAutomatic identification and data capture, Beijing, Belgium, Bill, Biometrics, Caitlin Chin, China, Closed-circuit television, Colombia, Crime prevention, Evani Radiya-Dixit, Face ID, Facial recognition system, Lauren Rhue, Law enforcement, Learning, London, Luxembourg, Mark Travis, Morocco, National security, Netflix, Nicol Turner Lee, Prevention, Samuel Woodhams Digital, Shanghai, Surveillance, United Kingdom, United States, Video surveillance, Xinjiangadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Facial recognition technology made headlines again last month as researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK said that the UK police’s use of the technology was unethical and potentially unlawful. The report from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy urged police to stop using live facial recognition (LFR) in public spaces and said trials by the Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police failed to meet the “minimum legal and ethical standards.” Continue reading →

04Nov/22

Video doorbells: security or surveillance?

November 4, 2022SecurityAmazon, Avi Asher-Schapiro, China, Chris Gilliard, Closed-circuit television, Crime prevention, Doorbell, Encinitas, George Orwell, Las Vegas, Law enforcement, Learning, London, Masha Borak, National security, New York, Prevention, Privacy, READING, Remo, Ring Inc., Samuel Woodhams Digital, Security, Singapore, Skills, Smart doorbell, Surveillance, Uber, United Kingdom, United States, Video surveillance, Vivintadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Video doorbells are everywhere now, sold as a modern security solution that can help protect your home and belongings. They let you greet guests remotely, deter would-be parcel thieves, and could even reduce the cost of your home insurance.
Continue reading →