The proliferation in local police department’s use of surveillance technology, which in most places has occurred without any community input or control, presents significant threats to civil rights and civil liberties that disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income communities.
Here is a list of costly and invasive surveillance technologies that might be recording you, your family, and your neighbors right now.
The nationwide Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) effort is looking to increase transparency through legislation mandating that local communities are given a meaningful opportunity to review and participate in all decisions about if and how surveillance technologies are acquired and used locally.
Milwaukee deserves to know how the police are surveilling us. Milwaukee needs CCOPS.
Milwaukee Surveillance in the Press
- Community organizations in Milwaukee call for oversight of police surveillance, Wisconsin Examiner (May 24, 2025)
- Milwaukee Police Propose Trading Millions of Mugshots for Free Facial Recognition Access, Gizmodo (April 28, 2025)
- ACLU letter raises alarm about Milwaukee PD surveillance, Police request for facial recognition technology spurs urgent response, Wisconsin Examiner (April 18, 2025)
- Milwaukee police creating drone team: 'It's a force multiplier', Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (April 18, 2025)
- Surveillance technology never left Milwaukee after the DNC, Wisconsin Examiner (June 26, 2024)
- ACLU urges citizen oversight of police surveillance in cities like Milwaukee, CCOPS Ordinance could help inform citizens, Wisconsin Examiner (May 20, 2024)
- Milwaukee police seek ‘open source intelligence tool’ for RNC, ACLU calls for civilian oversight of surveillance tech, Wisconsin Examiner (April 2, 2024)
- [ACLU-WI’s] Jon McCray Jones on ShotSpotter surveillance in Milwaukee, PBS Wisconsin (March 1, 2024)
- Privacy advocates respond to leaked data of ShotSpotter gunshot detection, Leak reveals the locations of every sensor on the system, including in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Examiner (Feb. 27, 2024)
- Milwaukee PD gets next-gen phone surveillance technology, Wisconsin Examiner (Nov. 27, 2023)
- 'Possibility of misuse a real one': ACLU shares privacy concerns for police Flock Safety cameras, WUWM (Sept. 8, 2023)
- Milwaukee police using technology that allows for real-time access to security cameras, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Aug. 10, 2023)
- A look at Milwaukee PD’s fusion center, Wisconsin Examiner (March 30, 2021)
