Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

The State of Surveillance: California Cops and Social Media Monitoring

Monday, September 20, 2021

The State of Surveillance: California Cops and Social Media Monitoring

Last year, the Brennan Center for Justice requested under California’s freedom of information law, that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) provide records relating to the Department’s “social media monitoring” activities. The request was based on the lack of public “information about the capabilities and limitations of the LAPD’s social media monitoring operations” and its use, including use beyond actual criminal investigations. The request letter noted that as of 2014, the LAPD had approximately 40 employees whose job it was to analyze social media, monitor individuals and groups, and collect online information about them and their activities.

What emerges from a review of the disclosed documents is a practice of police data-gathering from individuals who have not been arrested, cited or charged, to enhance law enforcement surveillance capability using social media.

In 2015, the LAPD’s Chief of Police authorized amendments to a “Field Interview” (FI) report form that would include gathering, besides specific personal information (name, birth date, address, vehicle information, and SSN), the details of the individual’s email and social media accounts. A later memo in 2020 reminds officers of the “expectation” that all information on the FI report be “recorded thoroughly and accurately” and instructs supervisors to review FIs for “completeness.”

There is no legal justification for demanding this information where FI reports are filled out by officers for anyone they have stopped. Generally, “field interviews” are consensual or voluntary interactions with police that fall short of an investigative stop or arrest and where the person is free to leave. A 2020 Los Angeles Times article quotes an LAPD assistant chief who confirms that “[t]here’s nothing that precludes an officer from completing an FI card on everyone they come in contact with.” According to the article, some officers did almost exactly that, by filling out FI reports on 90 percent of the individuals they stopped.

Information from the FI reports is allegedly incorporated into Palantir, a surveillance system used by the LAPD and other law enforcement agencies to aggregate, analyze and classify digital data. One commentator warns that the system has already expanded to include information that was not originally collected for law enforcement purposes, like utility billings, toll-pass records, foreclosures, and collection and repossession information, and is poised to add even more.    

The disclosure to the Brennan Center establishes, further, that the LAPD has considered using or is using outside vendors like Media Sonar, a company that claims it can build “a full digital snapshot of an individual’s online presence including all related personas and connections.”   

Californians, already living under one of the most repressive gun control regimes in the country, have reason to be concerned.

The reporting program and its data are susceptible to misuse and manipulation. Last summer, for example, three LAPD officers were prosecuted for falsifying FI reports to show that innocent individuals had confessed to being gang members, with “dozens” of people being listed in a state gang database after officers wrongly reported they were gangsters or gang associates. An additional 21 officers were under investigation over their FI reports.

Surveillance using personal social media information also opens the door for its potential use to support “red flag” gun confiscation petitions. Under California law, any law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency is eligible to petition for an order against another person. The ACLU in another state opposed a “red flag” bill for precisely this reason, as the “increased practice of law enforcement trolling of social media for ‘harmful’ or ‘threatening’ posts could vastly increase the use of a [red flag law] against innocent people who engage in overblown political rhetoric.”

The LAPD’s social media monitoring operations appear to be run without oversight or review. The Brennan Center reports that no documentation is kept regarding searches that officers make, no supervisory approval is needed, no audits have been done, and (with the exception of a prohibition on surveillance for personal, illicit, or illegal purposes), officers otherwise seem “to have complete discretion over whom to surveil, how broadly to track their online activity, and how long to monitor them.” It reports that the LAPD had targeted certain groups and protesters, and used a third-party vendor to track specific hashtags. The information collected in the FI reports, combined with other law enforcement information streams, could conceivably enable tracking of lawful gun owners and their legitimate exercise of civil rights.

This month, the LAPD issued a brief news release justifying the collection of social media and email information on FI forms in the name of keeping citizens safe.

America’s gun owners are well aware that “public safety” is the reason given for every new firearm restriction, however poorly supported by voters, the evidence, or just plain common sense. If nothing else, law enforcement’s use of technology to trawl social media and monitor citizens, on questionable grounds and with little accountability, illustrates the wisdom of opposing the licensing and registration of firearm owners and firearms. Not only do these schemes burden Second Amendment rights, they provide government officials with access to sensitive information about private gun owners, with the resulting potential for unwarranted law enforcement monitoring and surveillance, harassment, and confiscation of property. 

TRENDING NOW
Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Pure gun control. As in disarmament and banning of firearms. It’s rare that anti-gunners get straight to the exact point that we have been warning of for decades. 

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) may have thought he had scored against President Donald Trump in a recent war of words over rampant crime and the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.  

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

Close observers of the gun debate often see references to due process.

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Monday, July 7, 2025

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the Florida Budget for Fiscal Year 2025–2026, which includes a Second Amendment sales tax holiday from September 8 through December 31, 2025. The NRA is thankful for Governor DeSantis’ strong ...

Grassroots Spotlight: Oklahoma Rifle Association Annual State Convention

Take Action  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Grassroots Spotlight: Oklahoma Rifle Association Annual State Convention

Each year, the Oklahoma Rifle Association (ORA), the NRA's State Association for Oklahoma, hosts its Annual State Convention in August. 

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the federal agency whose jurisdiction encompasses federal firearms laws. 

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Today, the House rescheduled the veto override vote on Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to Monday, September 22. 

Colorado: CSSA Files Suit Challenging "Polis Permission Slip" Permit-to-Purchase Law

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Colorado: CSSA Files Suit Challenging "Polis Permission Slip" Permit-to-Purchase Law

Last week, the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), the official state affiliate of NRA, filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 25-003...

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Washington’s Magazine Ban

Monday, September 8, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Washington’s Magazine Ban

Today, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a case challenging Washington State’s ban on firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.