Live Online Policy Forum 

# State and Local Law Enforcement: Trends in Policing and the Law and Technology Surrounding It 

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Date and Time 

October 8, 2024 1 - 2 PM EDT 

Location 

Live Online 

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##### Featuring 

[![Media Name: balko.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/balko.jpg?itok=-cKdI_vC)](/people/radley-balko) 

[Radley Balko](/people/radley-balko)

Freelance Criminal Justice Journalist and Founder, *The Watch*

![Albert Fox Cahn](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-09/albert-fox-cahn-circle.jpeg?itok=bGh_rsOo) 

Albert Fox Cahn 

Founder and Executive Director, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project

![Jay Stanley - cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-08/Stanley_Headshot.jpg?itok=mo7fmHd0) 

Jay Stanley 

Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

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](https://x.com/JayCStanley) 

[![Patrick G. Eddington](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Patrick%20Eddington.jpg?itok=ddIWrIm5)](/people/patrick-g-eddington) 

[Patrick G. Eddington](/people/patrick-g-eddington)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/pgeddington) [ 

](mailto:peddington@cato.org) 

In the four years since nationwide protests against police misconduct rocked the nation, momentum for police reform has stalled. At the same time, state and local law enforcement entities are constantly seeking to upgrade their abilities to conduct various forms of surveillance—whether using traditional human informants or emerging digital or forensic technologies. These developments arguably represent major day-to-day threats to individual rights.

What changes, if any, have we seen in policing practices at the federal, state, and local levels since the George Floyd murder protests in the summer of 2020, particularly as they pertain to monitoring protests and civil society groups? To what extent are law enforcement organizations using human informants to infiltrate groups engaged in First Amendment–protected activities? How have federal courts been dealing with cases involving surveillance, human or technical, since the summer of 2020? Our panel will discuss these and related issues.

#### This event is part of the 2024 Cato Surveillance Week series:

[![Cato Surveillance Week image](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2024-09/cato-surveillance-week-image.jpg?itok=Ojd9-l4E)](https://www.cato.org/events/federal-surveillance-reform-achievements-unfinished-business) 

##### October 7, 2024

#### [Federal Surveillance Reform: Achievements and Unfinished Business](https://www.cato.org/events/federal-surveillance-reform-achievements-unfinished-business)

Earlier this year, Congress reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for two years. The final bill included provisions sought by civil liberties advocates, but some critical reforms didn’t make it into the final version.

[![Cato Surveillance Week image](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2024-09/cato-surveillance-week-image.jpg?itok=Ojd9-l4E)](https://www.cato.org/events/state-local-law-enforcement-trends-policing-law-technology-surrounding-it) 

##### October 8, 2024

#### [State and Local Law Enforcement: Trends in Policing and the Law and Technology Surrounding It](https://www.cato.org/events/state-local-law-enforcement-trends-policing-law-technology-surrounding-it)

In the four years since nationwide protests against police misconduct rocked the nation, momentum for police reform has stalled.

[![Cato Surveillance Week image](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2024-09/cato-surveillance-week-image.jpg?itok=Ojd9-l4E)](https://www.cato.org/events/government-surveillance-journalism-threat-landscape) 

##### October 10, 2024

#### [Government Surveillance and Journalism: The Threat Landscape](https://www.cato.org/events/government-surveillance-journalism-threat-landscape)

Journalists have been the targets of government surveillance, harassment, and violence for over a century—both in America and abroad.

[![Cato Surveillance Week image](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2024-09/cato-surveillance-week-image.jpg?itok=Ojd9-l4E)](https://www.cato.org/events/human-vs-machine-promise-peril-artificial-intelligence-law-enforcement-context) 

##### December 6, 2024 (rescheduled from October 9)

#### [Human vs. Machine: The Promise and Peril of Artificial Intelligence in the Law Enforcement Context](https://www.cato.org/events/human-vs-machine-promise-peril-artificial-intelligence-law-enforcement-context)

The development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) software for a range of applications has sparked intense debate over its implications for privacy and surveillance in multiple contexts.

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