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81. Surveillance, Control and Disinformation Technology

Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
World Politics Review
Abstract:
For years, activists, academics and watchdogs have characterized the spyware industry as out of control, with technology outpacing the laws designed to constrain the industry’s activities. In January 2020, the nefarious potential of such technology was vividly demonstrated when the heir to the Saudi kingdom apparently used Israeli-made spyware to breach the personal phone of the world’s richest man, who owns a leading American newspaper and runs one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies. Meanwhile, the growing prevalence of facial recognition technology in authoritarian countries like Russia and the United Arab Emirates, which use it to monitor activists and suppress dissent, has raised increasing alarm among human rights advocates. Perhaps the most egregious example is in China, where the government has used facial recognition technology to racially profile Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority that is concentrated in Xinjiang province, and forcibly lock them up in internment camps. But authoritarian countries are not alone: This technology is now being harnessed for law enforcement and surveillance purposes in many democracies.
Topic:
Intelligence, Science and Technology, Digital Economy, Surveillance, Police, Artificial Intelligence, Police State, Digital Revolution, Digitization, Digital Policy, and Emerging Technology
Political Geography:
Global Focus

82. What Has Changed in Policing since the Arab Uprisings of 2011? Surveying Policing Concepts and Modes of Contestation

Author:
Alex Walsh
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The 2011 Egyptian protests started in earnest nine years ago on National Police Day on 25 January, a holiday that Hosni Mubarak had introduced to commemorate Egyptian police officers killed and wounded by British colonial forces in 1952. Protesters upended the original meaning of the holiday to turn it into a symbol of police brutality and corruption under Mubarak. In the drama of the 18 days that followed, Egypt’s internal security apparatus fought the protesters in the streets, delivering one shocking provocation after another, galvanizing the protest movement and ultimately contributing to the removal of Mubarak. Since 2011, the police and internal security forces of many countries in the Arab world have been at the centre of the conflicts and struggles that shape the region for better and for worse. Recent and ongoing encounters between protestors and police in the streets of Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria and Sudan are a stark reminder that the police are more than just a proxy target for a protestation of the state. They are also the object of much anger both as a grouping, and in terms of the concept of policing and social control they embody. The impact of this sustained contestation of police behaviour and doctrine in the region deserves reflection. Has the police and policing changed in the Arab world? And if so, in what ways? This paper maps out some of the main modes in which the police and policing have been contested since 2011, and provides a preliminary assessment of its impact. It argues that mass mobilised contestation has only been successful in the instance where institutional reform followed. It notes that hybridisation of policing – where informal security actors cooperate and challenge formal security actors – has spread in many countries but that the concept of state security – with its emphasis on the state over citizens – continues to prevail across the region. Indeed, almost a decade after that fateful 25 January 2011, many of the aspirations of citizens protesting the police are far from realised, even while there are some promising developments.
Topic:
Protests, Repression, Police, and Police State
Political Geography:
Africa, North Africa, Egypt, and Cairo

83. Inteligencia para la Seguridad Pública en las Entidades Federativas de México (Intelligence for Public Security in Mexican States)

Author:
Juan Carlos Montero Bagatella
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:
International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:
La seguridad pública en México continúa siendo uno de los problemas más importantes. La inseguridad, expresada en estadísticas sobre incidencia delictiva y encuestas sobre percepción de inseguridad, no se ha logrado reducir. Ante dicho escenario, el artículo expone la complejidad de la seguridad pública, reconociéndola como una materia que trasciende las atribuciones de distintas dependencias y órdenes de gobierno. La investigación se enfoca en el papel de la inteligencia estratégica en las entidades federativas, reconociéndola como instrumento para la toma de decisiones. Para ello, el trabajo comienza por exponer la complejidad de la seguridad pública de acuerdo con el marco legal; en segundo lugar, se expone la utilidad de la inteligencia y de la inteligencia estratégica para la seguridad pública; en tercer lugar, se expone la investigación realizada en las 32 entidades federativas para identificar sus capacidades para generar y compartir inteligencia para la seguridad pública. La investigación expone la falta de mecanismos para generar y compartir inteligencia al interior de las entidades federativas y entre órdenes de gobierno, así como una visión restringida de la inteligencia orientada hacia la función policial, excluyendo elementos como la prevención de la violencia y el delito o la reinserción social.
Topic:
Security, Intelligence, and Police
Political Geography:
North America and Mexico

84. Pacifying Police Units and private interests in Brazil

Author:
Mayane Dore, Gabriel Bayarri, and Daniel Marías
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:
International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:
This article analyzes a concrete policy in the framework of Brazilian Public Security: the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs). It describes this policy and justifies, through an ethnographic case study, how the so-called “pacification of the favelas” articulates a logic of neoliberal urbanism and police infrastructure, understanding the residents of the favelas as potential consumers of their services. The article contextualizes the UPPs model as a paradigmatic case of public security in Latin America in which the discourse of violence/pacification is the main catalyst for private investments. More specifically, the article demonstrates how private companies resort to proximity conflicts mediation as a way of avoiding the judicialization of conflicts with the residents after the “Pacification”. With this case, we expect to illustrate the patrimonialism and clientelism that shapes the Brazilian State and its ambiguous relationships between private and public interests.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Neoliberalism, Violence, Urban, Police, and Patrimonialism
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

85. From Optimism to Disillusionment: Examining Civil Society Perceptions of Police Vetting in Kenya

Author:
Daniel Blocq, Mary Mwikali, and Agatha Ndonga
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
In 2013, a police vetting process began in Kenya in response to the 2007-2008 post-election violence. Some reports suggested that the police had failed to stop that violence, others that the police had actively contributed to it. For decades, the police force had been notorious for its corruption, extrajudicial killings, and torture. This was the context in which a comprehensive police reform program was set up, one that included a vetting component and was led by the newly established National Police Service Commission (NPSC). The NPSC was mandated to screen every officer inside the Kenyan police. Civil society organizations (CSOs) initially expressed a great deal of optimism about the vetting plans. Indeed, political will for the process seemed to be present. The vetting of the judiciary, which had started shortly before the police vetting and was considered to be quite successful, also strengthened CSOs’ beliefs that serious and genuine police vetting was possible. Unfortunately, their optimism quickly turned to disillusionment and their confidence in the process crumbled. Six years after the commencement of the police vetting process, CSO representatives commonly agreed that it had failed. From Optimism to Disillusionment: Examining Civil Society Perceptions of Police Vetting in Kenya, the report from ICTJ and the Van Vollenhoven Institute at the Leiden Law School, offers an account of the police vetting process in Kenya. Drawing on interviews with CSO representatives, former NPSC commissioners, staff, and panelists, and victims of police violence, the report focuses specifically on the causes underlying civil society’s disillusionment. One of these causes was the outcome of the vetting. Out of the estimated 80,000 officers in service, the commission vetted only 5,993, of whom 445 were found unsuitable and dismissed. While the program did subject the very top police commanders to vetting, and the early hearings occurred in public, which was groundbreaking, in the end less than 7.5 percent of all police officers were subjected to vetting. But the more important cause may have been the process. The commission was certainly not simply engaged in a whitewashing exercise, and was at times, at least initially, quite committed to the vetting process. But the NPSC was also seen by civil society as a commission that, crucially, did not always take the CSOs seriously, culminating in a lack of responsiveness, sensitivity, and transparency on the commission’s part. While the commission’s approach seems to have also resulted at least partially from external pressures, it seriously hurt the overall assessment of the vetting exercise by the CSOs. The report is accompanied by two additional publications. The briefing paper Hearings and Decision Making During Transitional Vetting Processes: Insights from Kenya focuses on micro-level decision making within the commission, illustrating how a combination of factors—discretion, decision makers’ experience, and social tensions—can affect the outcomes, perceptions, and legitimacy of a vetting process. The policy brief Reflections and Recommendations for Transitional Vetting draws on the research conducted in Kenya to highlight the importance of strategy, coherence, information gathering, communication, expertise, and political and material support in vetting processes more generally.
Topic:
Civil Society, Reform, Institutions, Police, and Vetting
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

86. State of play of integrity policies in the Kosovo Police

Author:
Plator Avdiu and Shpat Balaj
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
In recent years, Kosovo’s security sector integrity practices, in particular Kosovo Police ones, have run into severe challenges, which have been exacerbated by the current Covid-19 pandemic the country is dealing with. Numerous police officers are subjected to criminal investigations by relevant rule-of-law mechanisms (Police Inspectorate of Kosovo and State Prosecution) for alleged criminal offenses related to breaches of legal procedures governing their official duties. On the other hand, the Prime Minister’s decision of October 2020 to discharge the former General Director of the Kosovo Police, has both directly and indirectly paved the way for political influence over the Kosovo Police by ruling parties. Furthermore, this may have a significant impact on discouraging structural reforms in the police, particularly in human resource management.
Topic:
Security, Corruption, Law Enforcement, and Police
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo

87. Implementing the Mop Barrier Assessment Methodology With the Zambia Police Service

Author:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
In the context of the Canadian-led Elsie Initiative aiming to reduce barriers for uniformed women in UN Peace Operations, DCAF has developed the Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations (MOWIP) methodology, in partnership with Cornell University and research institutions in eight troop- and police contributing countries across the world. The MOWIP methodology aims to provide institutions with the evidence base necessary to design effective interventions which substantially increase the number of women who deploy. While it is currently being piloted in 7 other countries, the MOWIP methodology was successfully implemented in Zambia with the Zambia Police Service (ZPS) between May 2019 and March 2020, in partnership with the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD). This resource highlights the key takeaways from the process of implementing the MOWIP methodology in Zambia along with good practices and lessons learned at each stage, including the preparation phase, the data collection phase, the data analysis phase and the validation phase. It aims to provide guidance to TPCCs or security institutions interested in implementing the MOWIP methodology themselves regarding the resources and time commitment required, and outlines the outcomes and benefits of undergoing the Barrier Assessment for the ZPS.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Police, and Models
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

88. Epidemic-Related Unrest and the CCP’s Reinforced Political Loyalty Indoctrination for China’s Police

Author:
John Dotson
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
China Brief
Institution:
The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
The central Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province, was the original epicenter from which the COVID-19 viral outbreak first emerged in November-December 2019. Hubei Province was placed under a strict lockdown in mid-January that lasted for over two months (China Brief, January 29). On March 25, authorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced the lifting of most travel restrictions for residents of Hubei Province, with the exception of Wuhan City itself (Xinhua, March 25). (Restrictions for residents of Wuhan were later eased on April 8). However, the lifting of these restrictions has not proceeded entirely smoothly. On March 27, a major social disturbance occurred on the bridge over the Yangzi River that connects the town of Xiaochi in far eastern Hubei with the town of Jiujiang in northern Jiangxi Province. On that Friday, Hubei residents attempted to cross the bridge, but were blocked by police from the Jiangxi side. A tense stand-off escalated into a riot that reportedly involved not only citizens and police, but also clashes between police from the two bordering provinces (see accompanying images) (Radio Free Asia, March 27). Regional tensions were revealed in video of the incident, in which angry citizens could clearly be heard to chant “Let’s go, Hubei” (湖北加油, Hubei jiayou) when marching to confront barricades set up by Jiangxi police (HK Free Press, March 27). The police barricades were presumably ordered by Jiangxi officials—acting in apparent contravention of official national policy—who were fearful that an influx of people from Hubei could once more spread COVID-19 infections. This likely revealed skepticism on the part of regional officials towards the central government’s message that the epidemic has been contained in Hubei. It also revealed issues of fear and discrimination against Hubei persons on the part of Chinese from other provinces, a problem acknowledged in official PRC press outlets (China Daily, March 30). The March 27 incident provided a dramatic example of the sort of social unrest that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have clearly feared could materialize in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths inside China and across the globe. [1] Hubei citizens have been subject to harsh conditions under government quarantines, resulting in a steady build-up of popular anger (China Brief, April 1). This incident may not be the last of its type to emerge as a result of the pandemic, and the CCP has taken active steps over the past two months to reinforce political indoctrination for local police agencies—thereby attempting to ensure that police officers will remain loyal to the ruling party in the event of any major incidents that might threaten “social order and stability” (社会治安稳定, shehui zhi’an wending) in the country.
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Domestic Politics, Police, Police State, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Political Geography:
China and Asia

89. Factsheet: The NYPD Muslim Surveillance and Mapping Program

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Muslim Surveillance and Mapping Program began under Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2001 and monitored Muslim communities in New York City and nearby states until 2014. A secret unit within the program called the Demographics Unit sent informants into mosques, Muslim student groups, and Muslim-owned businesses to gather information on 28 “ancestries of interest.” The program never generated a lead for law enforcement, faced repeated challenges in court, and was met with accusations of religious and racial profiling. The program also sowed anxiety, suspicion, and distrust of law enforcement within Muslim communities.
Topic:
Law Enforcement, Surveillance, War on Terror, Police, NYPD, and Muslims
Political Geography:
New York, North America, and United States of America

90. Factsheet: NYPD Stop and Frisk Policy

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Stop and frisk is a policing tactic of temporarily detaining, questioning, and frisking individuals in search of weapons or contraband. The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) use of the tactic under Mayor Rudy Giuliani (1994–2001) and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (2002–2013) disproportionately impacted Black and Latino communities, faced accusations of racial profiling, and contributed to an environment of fear amongst the targeted communities. In 2011, at the height of the program, over 685,000 people were stopped, with nearly 88% found to be innocent. The NYPD’s application of stop and frisk was found unconstitutional in 2013 due to a policy of indirect racial profiling. The practice of stop and frisk has continued across the country in varied forms.
Topic:
Police, NYPD, Stop and Frisk, and Racial Profiling
Political Geography:
New York, North America, and United States of America