The Rise of Big Data Policing: Surveillance, Race, and the Future of Law Enforcement

PROSE Award Winner in Law & Legal Studies:“Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how technology is changing American policing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In a command center in downtown Los Angeles, a digital map lights up with 911 calls, TV monitors track breaking news, surveillance cameras sweep the streets, and rows of computers link analysts and police officers to a wealth of intelligence.

This is just a glimpse into a future where software predicts crimes, algorithms generate “most-wanted” lists, and databanks collect personal and biometric information. The Rise of Big Data Policing introduces the cutting-edge technology that is changing how the police do their jobs and shows why it is crucial that citizens understand the far-reaching consequences of big data surveillance as a law enforcement tool.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson reveals how these technologies —viewed as race-neutral and objective—have been eagerly adopted by police departments hoping to distance themselves from claims of racial bias and unconstitutional practices. After a series of high-profile police shootings and federal investigations into systemic misconduct, and in an era of law enforcement budget cutbacks, data-driven policing has been billed as a way to turn the page on racial bias. But behind the data are real people, and difficult questions remain.

This groundbreaking book examines how new technologies will alter who, where, when, and how we police, and how they also offer data-driven methods to improve police accountability—and remedy underlying socio-economic risk factors that encourage crime. It is a must read for understanding how technology will revolutionize law enforcement—and its potential threat to the security, privacy, and constitutional rights of citizens. “Ferguson teaches us not only the fault lines in how police watch us, but how we can turn the tables to use new algorithms to watch the police. At stake is nothing less than individual liberty and the democratic control of policing.”—Jeffrey Fagan, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Columbia University “Ferguson has an incredible command of the many subjects that fall under the ‘big data’ umbrella.”—Gizmodo “Will be indispensable to [anyone] interested in the practice of policing.”—Library Journal

© 2023 NYU Press (Ebook): 9781479881475

Release date

Ebook: 21 November 2023