Neighborhoods Watched: A discussion with the reporters

Reporters Michael Isaac Stein and Caroline Sinders talk about their five-part series on surveillance in New Orleans.
THE PRIVATE SURVEILLANCE HUB OPERATED BY PROJECTNOLA — A NONPROFIT THAT PARTNERS WITH THE NOPD AND OPERATES A NETWORK OF 4,000 CAMERAS IN NEW ORLEANS. (MICHAEL ISAAC STEIN/THE LENS)

New Orleans has spent millions to expand its police surveillance powers in recent years, providing the city with an unprecedented ability to monitor public spaces and track individuals, for the most part without any formal oversight or local regulation.

In partnership with the Fund for Investigative Journalism, The Lens has spent the past year obtaining and reviewing thousands of city documents to get a snapshot of New Orleans’ current surveillance apparatus and the rapid, largely unchecked nature of its growth.

The result is “Neighborhoods Watched,” a five-part series on the recent expansion of the city’s surveillance system. In this special podcast episode, reporters Michael Isaac Stein and Caroline Sinders talk to Lens producerr Carolyne Heldman about their work on the project.

Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman has been in media for 35 years, most recently as Executive Director at an NPR member station in Colorado where she was responsible for new multi-platform content initiatives, strategic planning, research, branding, and non-traditional revenue generation. During her tenure she also created and launched four weekly news, public affairs and cultural affairs programs and monthly live Town Hall broadcasts. Heldman moved to New Orleans last summer with her husband and canine companion and they live happily in The Marigny.