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A running, sourced timeline of how license-plate readers, body cams and AI policing tools are actually going — and what the failures cost taxpayers.

Timeline / entry

· Baltimore, MD

Baltimore spending board cancels police surveillance plane contract

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates voted unanimously Wednesday to cancel the city’s contract for aerial surveillance planes operated by Persistent Surveillance Systems. The planes had flown their final Baltimore flight on Oct. 31, 2020. Lisa Walden, a city attorney representing the Baltimore Police Department, said allowing the contract to continue would be ‘less transparent’ and that the city is working to delete 85% of collected data, retaining 15% for ongoing investigations. The cancellation came as the city faced an ACLU lawsuit over the program. Mayor Brandon Scott said preliminary reviews showed no significant difference between crimes investigated with the use of the planes and those without.

Also in Baltimore, MD

2 entries over 1 yr, oldest first. The gap is the time since the previous one.

  1. Baltimore spending board cancels police surveillance plane contract this entry
  2. +1 yrBaltimore police settlement ends aerial surveillance program after court found it unconstitutional

Sources

  1. Baltimore spending board cancels surveillance plane contract — Baltimore Sun, Feb 3, 2021 (baltimoresun.com)
  2. Baltimore's spy plane is grounded, leaving some legal issues up in the air — Baltimore Brew, Feb 5, 2021 (baltimorebrew.com)

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