Boston police used their fusion center to surveil my journalistic actions. It took nearly seven years for BPD to hold itself somewhat accountable, and only after they used my information in a Department of Homeland Security conference presentation. The department violated transparency laws and their own policies to hide their surveillance of me covering the […]
STRIKE & FRISK
AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing” The “review is focused on racial disparities in the rates at which people are stopped and frisked” There has been significant state-level scrutiny of Massachusetts municipal law enforcement in the past year, with the appointed Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission suspending […]
EARS FOR FEAR: THE SHOTSPOTTER WORKAROUND
Boston, Regional Police Dodge Transparency Ordinance In Bolstering Surveillance Network At a public hearing at the end of November, Boston police and officials heard from activists and lawmakers concerned about transparency regarding surveillance technology in the city. The gunshot detection system ShotSpotter received particular criticism over accuracy and deployment, but officials defended the tech and […]
CENTRA INTELLIGENCE
New Documents Reveal Extent, Cost Of BPD’s Secret Surveillance Strategy After more than 100 white supremacists gathered in Boston and marched through the city over Independence Day weekend, city and law enforcement officials said they “did not have intelligence” that the nationally-known Patriot Front group was coming to the Hub—despite paying a government contractor with […]
IS PEER INTERVENTION FOR COPS AN EPIC FAIL IN THE MAKING? A LOOK AT THE NOLA PROGRAM HEADED FOR BOSTON.
“They’re designed to punish a few officers or in some of these cases just to stop them from doing bad things before they get there.”