It is time for New Orleans to pause on surveillance technology

Over the past decade, the surveillance tech industry has infiltrated many parts of America. New Orleans is among the most surveilled cities, including over 400 “Real Time Crime Cameras,” roughly 100 Flocc cameras, ShotSpotter listening posts, CellHawk (cell tower data grabs), NightHawk (pulling data from seized cell phones), and a private citizen’s own network of surveillance systems (Project NOLA). 

NOPD partnered with the infamous company Palantir from 2011 – 2018 for “predictive policing.” There is no way to know what level of data access Palantir still holds after being given the digital keys to the city. 

The NOPD infamously violated the City’s ban on Facial Recognition Technology, yet nobody was held accountable. Now they are violating their drone policies by barely logging any information on nearly all of their drone flights. Considering the total inability to create policies that are transparent to the public and obeyed by the police, it is past time for City Council and the Mayor to commit to pausing the ever-expanding and highly suspect surveillance state. 

Where is the law about flying over a person’s property or hovering outside a window? Is this trespassing or an illegal search? Will police drones be identifiable? The NOPD’s Skydio drones come equipped with thermal sensors, yet the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that thermal sensor detection requires a warrant (Kyllo v. U.S.). What is the punishment for using police technology to stalk an ex? Where is the accountability when tools erroneously destroy someone’s reputation?  

Surveillance tech is driven by “knowing all” and catching our misdeeds. Is this the legacy for our children? Every day is TSA in our schools, as kids confront metal detectors, camera patdowns, and phone confiscation. Our budgets have long prioritized policing over social workers, violence interrupters, mental health counselors, and mobile crisis teams. Without a change of direction, a bleak reality is easy to predict. 

This costly technology feeds the Data Centers being built across Louisiana. What is in the Non-Disclosure Agreements politicians are signing to harvest and store everything about us? The secretive nature of “Big Government” complicity has outraged people across the political spectrum. The dots connecting Homeland Security, profiteering prisons, surveillance and sheriffs (without term limits) are not very far apart.   

Louisiana passed a 2026 law requiring QR codes on every vehicle, being pitched to us as replacing “hated” inspection stickers. What will be on the code? How many code readers will be built over the roadways of Louisiana? Will a palm print be required to enter the French Quarter? Will the jail be run through computer sensors delivering electroshocks? As the Governor and Legislature reshape the courts, who will be in place to defend the freedom to be left alone?  

America was founded on liberty and justice for all. In our 250th year, it is time for everyone to take a hard look at this brave new world. A vibrant discussion on surveillance requires voices of civil liberties be seated at the table. And until we collectively understand the freedom we concede, we should not be marching towards the dystopian future. 

Bruce Reilly is deputy director of Voice of the Experienced.