Shifting Imaginaries: Mission Creep and the Material Imaginaries of ALPR

• In Event: STS and Computational Knowledge Production in Policing and Criminal Justice - I

Abstract

The term “mission” creep is used in the literature on surveillance and security technologies to describe a common phenomenon in which the usage of a device expands, or creeps, beyond the original remit to encompass broader, often unsanctioned, goals. However, despite its commonality, the concept of mission creep as sociotechnical dynamic is still under-explored. Drawing on research done on the deployment of Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology in the United States and in Canada, this paper adds to the empirical and theoretical literature by developing a different theorization of mission creep. This paper contends that by extending Jasanoff and Kim’s (2015) concept of sociotechnical imaginaries to incorporate not only large-scale discourses but also their in-scription and de-scription (Akrich 1992) in particular technologies, a compelling analytical framework for mission creep can be developed. Through policy documents and interviews from law enforcement and manufacturers, our analysis of trends in ALPR usage shows that there exists an intricate interplay between the discursive articulation of imagined uses, their materialization in specific technological capabilities, and the effects of success and failure upon the next iteration of imagined uses. This interplay can be better understood as the tension between the originally inscribed imaginaries, the success or failure of their deployment, and the subsequent need to re-imagine their mission. In addition to connecting with this year’s theme of innovations, interruptions and regenerations, it also adds to a clearer understanding of why mission creep occurs and how we can better govern it.

Authors

• Thomas Linder, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada

• Nikolaus Pöchhacker, MCTS, Technical University of Munich