Evidence-Based Government

Public safety technology is sold with claims: that cameras cut crime, that facial recognition is accurate, that drones make officers safer. We treat those claims as hypotheses to be tested.

What we do

• Request the data behind the claim: contracts, usage logs, audit reports, and outcome data.
• Analyze it in the open, and publish the data and the methods alongside the findings so anyone can check the work.
• Compare the city’s claims with the published research on the same technology.
• Review proposed purchases and ordinances and submit written comment before the vote.

Recent work

• NOPD drone flight logs for January through April 2026: 273 flights, 75 percent with no reason recorded.
• Analyses of NOPD overtime spending and Sewerage and Water Board funding.
• Documentation of what NOPD’s facial recognition requests to Project NOLA actually contained, drawn from the department’s own emails.

Why it matters

Surveillance spending competes with everything else in the city budget. A decision made on a vendor’s claim is a decision made without evidence. We want the Council and the public to see the data before the money moves.

Have a claim you want checked?

If a city agency or a vendor has made a claim about public safety technology, send it to us. We will tell you what the records show.