cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/44089308
Timeline of predictive policing and facial recognition surveillance use in New Orleans:
~2012-2018: Palantir has secretly been using New Orleans to test its predictive policing technology
2015: Meet The Man Who Runs New Orleans’ Entirely Privatized (And Controversial) City Surveillance System
2017: ProjectNOLA plans to expand crime camera network, work more closely with New Orleans officials
2020: New Orleans City Council bans facial recognition, predictive policing and other surveillance tech
May 2025: Police secretly monitored New Orleans with facial recognition cameras
June 2025: City camera technology not useful for facial recognition: Project NOLA founder
Lagarde says he believed a proposed new ordinance would “free up NOPD to tap the Project NOLA network without concern” as needed.
July 2025: New Orleans councilmember against facial recognition expansion
“Now, throughout this ordinance, there is a tremendous amount of language which adds additional restrictions, such as it cannot be used to check someone's immigration status,” Morrell said. “I know this is kind of where NOPD and the authors are hanging their hat, to say this isn't about immigration.” But Morrell argues those protections could be undermined by a new state law. “Act 399 of this last legislative session by Senator Jay Morris essentially, he created a new crime,” Morrell said. “If an elected official or a government official does not cooperate with ICE.” Civil liberties advocates say those legal pressures could make facial recognition data vulnerable to federal use even if city leaders say otherwise.
“I mean, I don't know about you,” said a representative from the ACLU of Louisiana, “but I don't necessarily trust that the federal government, if they came in and wanted to look at this, look at these records and this data, that they would be using it in a good way. I don't think... maybe Jeff Landry wouldn't be looking at it in such a great way either.”
Future plans for surveillance across America as of 2025:
June 2025: Trump’s Palantir-Powered Surveillance Is Turning America Into a Digital Prison
Palantir, long criticized for its role in powering ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids and predictive policing, is now poised to become the brain of Trump’s surveillance regime. Under the guise of “data integration” and “public safety,” this public-private partnership would deploy AI-enhanced systems to comb through everything from facial recognition feeds and license plate readers to social media posts and cellphone metadata—cross-referencing it all to assess a person’s risk to the state.
