They’ll be watching Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras (and every other day)

In cities across the United States someone or something is almost always watching you. On Tuesday, as Mardi Gras revelers flock to New Orleans to celebrate the end of Carnival, it will be no different.

In cities across the United States someone or something is almost always watching you. On Tuesday, as Mardi Gras revelers flock to New Orleans to celebrate the end of Carnival, it will be no different. Surveillance cameras are crucial for deterring and solving crimes, finding missing people and fighting terrorism in cities across the US, but a unique web of eyes is observing Bourbon Street. Spawned in the aftermath of a natural disaster, Project NOLA, a community-based network in New Orleans and beyond is using its web of 10,000 security cameras to offer high-definition surveillance to dozens of law enforcement agencies serving communities from coast to coast. What sets the nonprofit’s model apart is that their cameras are positioned on private homes and businesses and can be outfitted with facial recognition, license plate reading and clothing recognition software. Some studies have shown that areas covered by surveillance cameras generally see significant crime reductions, but critics worry advanced facial recognition software violates the public’s right to privacy, and disproportionately targets people of color. Mere hours into the new year, the team at Project NOLA was focused on a shooting in Adams County, Mississippi – one of many cities and towns across the country where Project NOLA operates – when the phone rang.