The Rise of the Drone. The introduction of hi-tech, crime surveillance and prevention equipment, in 21st Century Bolivia

• In Event: Padding the Iron Fist? Ethnographic Approaches to Ongoing Criminal Justice and Citizen Security Reforms in Latin America

Abstract

Drones, surveillance cameras, electronic bracelets, biometric registers, substance detectors, and GPS tracking devices. Although not a novelty in other contexts, the introduction of these artifacts show a dramatic change in how the Bolivian state and civil society are responding to widespread perceptions of increasing criminality. In the four years since it was launched, the Citizen Security Law has destined close to 400 million dollars to security programs. This unprecedented amount is partly aimed at introducing hi-tech devices in private and public spaces. They are the highlights of a long-awaited state reform of all levels of the law-enforcement, judicial and penal chain. These seemingly top-down approaches, however, also resonate with demands from citizens who make permanent calls for more police presence, more surveillance, and tougher controls on alleged criminals. This paper examines how the introduction of these technological innovations is changing the perceptions about the limits and opportunities for state action against crime. Building upon the notions of marking, infamy, and punishment, (Foucault [1973], 2015) this paper also examines how state and non-state actors make sense of the new ways of controlling criminality in Latin America.

Author

• Jorge C Derpic, University of Texas at Austin