Police Surveillance Tools

 

According to Popular Mechanics (June 12, 2020) -- From body cameras to cell-site simulators, license plate readers, social media monitoring tools, and drones, the police have eyes on the ground, road, subways, internet, and practically any protesting site you can imagine. Police departments are doing less outreach, less legwork, and fewer investigations. Instead, they’re relying on untested technology that can result in more abuse and corruption. Not to mention, it’s a waste of taxpayer money.

Popular Mechanics suggests the following ways to protect yourself from police surveillance technologies:

Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) - If you live in a state where you’re not required to have a front license plate, remove it. And if you have the option, don’t drive your personal car to protests. Instead, consider walking or using public transportation.

Body-Worn Cameras - The best way to evade being captured by a body-worn camera is to stay out of the line of sight of police officers. If you’re near an officer, make sure you don’t have any visible identifying features; wear a mask and a hat to block the camera’s ability to identify you. But you can also use body cameras in your defense if an officer uses excessive action or otherwise behaves inappropriately.

Cell-Site Simulators (IMSI Catchers, Stingrays, or Dirtboxes) - Short of building a device to help identify stringrays along and around a protest, simply put your phone into airplane mode.

Drones - If you want to determine if drones are being used, you can consider using acoustic sensors, radio frequency analyzers, and optical sensors. But that’s probably not an option for most people. In that case, use the same techniques to avoid facial recognition or FLIR technology.

Facial Recognition Software - You can find out if your local police department is using facial recognition software through this interactive map (https://www.banfacialrecognition.com/map/). To avoid being detected at a protest, cover your face with a mask and wear a brimmed hat.

Forward-Looking Infrared Cameras (FLIR) - Hide behind a source that blocks heat signatures and minimize your skin exposure. Wearing long sleeves can reduce your visibility by up to 15 percent. Additionally, the best times of the day to be outside are at sunrise and sunset, when thermal imaging capture is less effective.

Mobile Surveillance Towers (MSTs) - The bigger threats from MSTs are video and FLIR capture. Refer to those sections for how to best evade detection.

Social Media Monitoring - Be mindful of whether or not you’re talking to a bot, determine if you want to privatize or anonymize your online presence, and take the platform-appropriate steps to do so. You may also want to consider refraining from posting to social media from protests until after you’ve left. This protects your privacy and the privacy of those around you.

Police surveillance technology can be frightening and may dissuade you from attending a protest. But before you give up your democratic duty and constitutional right to gather and activate for change, there are further actions you can take to make yourself safe.

Before the Protest

* Consult the EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense Guide.

* Enable full-encryption on your cellular devices to ensure your data isn’t accessible if it lands in the hands of police.

* Remove fingerprint lock and FaceID.

* Consider using a fully encrypted social messaging service instead of text messaging.

* Back up your data in the event your phone is confiscated.

* Dress for evasion or anonymity: Cover up tattoos, wear non-traceable clothing, and wear a mask. (You should be doing this anyway in the age of COVID-19, but it also helps to reduce your chances of being identified by FLIR, monitoring cameras, or other means).

* Make alternate transportation plans. ALPRs will most likely track your car and be able to identify you at a protest, but public transportation will also have a record of you depending on what form of payment you use.
Know the phone number of legal representation in your area.

During the Protest

* Put your phone on airplane mode. This will reduce the chances of connecting to a cell-site simulator or otherwise being tracked.

* Don’t unlock your phone if you don’t have to. An unlocked phone is fair game for police officers.

* Scrub the meta-data off of your photos to reduce the likelihood of them being incriminating evidence.

* Protect your community. Be careful of where you post photos and who is in those photos.

* You’re not required to give your password or hand over a cell phone to anyone. 

* Ask if you’re being detained; if the answer is no, then you can walk away.

What to Do If You’re Arrested at a Protest

* Call a lawyer. If you don’t have a number for one, ask fellow protestors.

*Remember to stay silent! And don’t consent to a search of your phone.

* Consider giving your phone to a friend instead of bringing it with you to the precinct office. This reduces the risk that police can use it against you.

* Refuse to unlock your device if asked. You’re not required to unlock your phone, and you should instead ask for a lawyer to be present.

* Police can voucher your phone as arrest evidence if they think there’s evidence of a crime on the phone. Otherwise, they may voucher your phone to keep it safe.

* Assuming the latter, you can get your phone back when released. Assuming the former, you won’t get your phone back until the end of the criminal case.


Read the complete Popular Mechanics article here.