Police Tech: Maximizing Benefits and Reducing Risks

Emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, and robots and drones have enormous potential to transform and improve the way law enforcement keep communities safe. Police departments across the country are experimenting with applications that would help them do their jobs more safely and effectively. But many of these applications have been met with resistance, particularly because of misleading claims about privacy, civil rights, and other purported harms of police tech from civil rights, digital rights, and civil liberties groups. This opposition has prompted some departments to delay or discontinue their use of certain technologies, and, in extreme cases, even resulted in bans on certain technologies, like facial recognition.

Watch the ITIF discussion about emerging technologies on the horizon for law enforcement and a new report on how police departments can get the most out of these technologies while addressing some of the legitimate concerns.