"In New Orleans, Project NOLA, a 501(c)(3), has built a large apparatus of more than 200 cameras through donations. News broke earlier this year that the nonprofit was conducting real time facial recognition scans and sending alerts to the New Orleans Police Department, a clear violation of city policy that went unchecked until reporting by The Washington Post revealed the arrangement."
"Prominently, the Atlanta Police Foundation funded and built the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, colloquially known as Cop City, for the Atlanta Police Department; the 501(c)(3) is also the official partner contracting with Flock Safety and providing the city use of the company's notorious surveillance cameras."
"This type of funding mechanism has become something of a national trend that police agencies are using to grow their access to surveillance tools: route those technologies through private entities like nonprofits that operate beyond democratic control, essentially outsourcing surveillance and policing."
Nashville’s mayor submitted a resolution to approve a memorandum of understanding that would direct $15 million in state surveillance funding to a local nonprofit. Routing surveillance funding through nonprofits can place powerful technologies outside direct democratic oversight and weaken accountability. Cities including Atlanta and New Orleans have used nonprofit partners to build surveillance infrastructure, with Atlanta’s police foundation funding a training center and partnering with Flock Safety. Project NOLA in New Orleans built over 200 cameras and reportedly ran real-time facial recognition that triggered police alerts, an operation that bypassed city policy until external reporting exposed it.
Read at Truthout
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