Inside Chicago’s Surveillance Panopticon

Inside Chicago’s surveillance panopticon

Early on the morning of September 2, 2024, a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train was the scene of a random and horrific mass shooting. Four people were shot and killed on a westbound train as it approached the suburb of Forest Park.  The police swiftly activated a digital dragnet—a surveillance network that connects thousands of cameras in the city.  The process began with a quick review of the transit agency’s surveillance cameras, which …

Cities Are Shredding Their AI Surveillance Contracts en Masse

Since the start of 2025, at least 30 cities have canceled their contracts with Flock Safety, the AI surveillance company whose CEO wants to end all crime within the decade by blanketing the country in ever-watchful security cameras. That startling figure comes courtesy of NPR, which reports that concerned activists are putting mounting pressure on cities to cut ties with the company. “We are seeing a lot more momentum,” Will Freeman, a Colorado-…

San Bernardino Residents Demand City End $84K Flock Surveillance Camera Contract

More than 100 residents filled the meeting room at the Feldheym Central Library on Feb. 18, with over two dozen rallying specifically to protest the city’s contract with Flock Safety and urging officials not to renew an $84,000 annual agreement for 28 automated license plate reader cameras. Public comment on the issue did not begin until about 7:40 p.m. — more than two hours after the meeting started — as the San Bernardino City Council first sp…