Police Aerial Surveillance and Resident Perceptions of Privacy in Baltimore City

• In Event: Science, Technology, and Criminal Justice Attitudes

Abstract

In 2020, the Baltimore Police Department launched a pilot program of surveillance planes that recorded video of the city to assist in investigating violent crime. This program faced much criticism in Baltimore as citizens grew concerned over how footage may violate their rights to privacy. In this study, we conducted a survey of residents of Baltimore city to assess their concerns for privacy and support for the surveillance program. Results indicate that when citizens perceive the surveillance program as violating their rights to privacy, they are less likely to support the surveillance program overall. The perceptions of violations to rights of privacy were more important in influencing program support that perceptions of the police or perceptions of crime. These findings have important implications for the police, which face intense public scrutiny in Baltimore city and programs such as this may impede citizen support of the police overall.

Authors

• Elias Nader, Kent State University

• Gabriela Wasileski, University of Baltimore

• Rita Poteyeva, James Madison University