Powerful technologies from new surveillance systems to predictive algorithms are transforming the way law enforcement prevents and fights crime. They hold the promise of a much safer future, though they also threaten to encroach upon our privacy and to perpetuate biases against people based on their race or where they live.

As with most transformative technologies, the development and dissemination of these new crime-fighting tools is taking place more quickly and with less democratic oversight than you might expect. And this comes at a time of heightened concern nationwide about the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

Join Future Tense—a partnership of Arizona State University, New America, and Slate—on Wednesday, Nov. 30, in Washington, D.C., to consider how new crime-fighting technologies should be deployed to prevent crime, protect our rights, and improve the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they are meant to protect and serve. You can find the agenda below. To RSVP, visit the New America website, where you can also watch the event live.

Agenda:

Will Technology Make Crime Obsolete?

P. Jeffrey Brantingham
Professor of anthropology, UCLA
Co-Founder, PredPo

Kami N. Chavis
Professor of law and associate dean for research and public engagement, Wake Forest University
Director of the Criminal Justice Program, Wake Forest University

Ralph Clark
President and CEO, ShotSpotter

Moderator:
Leon Neyfakh
Staff writer, Slate

Policing Data and Transparency to Build Community Trust

Denice Ross
Co-founder, Police Data Initiative
Senior advisor, community solutions, the White House

Will Crime-Fighting Technologies Make Privacy Obsolete?

Lauren Kirchner
Senior reporting fellow, ProPublica

Jennifer Lynch
Senior staff attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Will Technology Improve Police-Community Relations?

Charles Katz
Professor, criminology and criminal justice, Arizona State University
Watts Family Director, Center for Violence Prevention & Community Safety, Arizona State University

Tracie Keesee
Deputy commissioner of training, NYPD

David Oh
Councilman at-large, Philadelphia City Council

Samuel Sinyangwe
Co-founder, WeTheProtesters
Policy analyst and data scientist, Campaign Zero

Moderator:
Wesley Lowery
National reporter, the Washington Post
Author, They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement