Most law enforcement personnel in the United States are familiar with software programs like Google Earth that allow anyone with an Internet-enabled device to look at high-resolution, sometimes 3D, images of anywhere on earth. Those programs have become useful in numerous industries like business, real estate, education, and law enforcement. The potential ability for police to use these platforms to view cities in real time, instead of just using high-resolution photographs, will arguably change the police profession. If satellite imagery become ubiquitous, would police agencies be seen as saviors or as “big brother”?
How Did We Get Here?
The idea that live-streaming satellite images could be technologically possible and available to the public seems like an idea out a futuristic movie or science fiction novel, but the reality is that the technology exists today. To understand how that’s possible, one must look back at events that laid the foundation for the evolution of live-streaming images and the laws created to regulate their use.
In 2014, the U.S. government began allowing sharper satellite images to be taken, used, and sold at sizes as small as 31 cm.1 Before then, satellite image providers weren’t allowed to sell black-and-white images with a resolution higher than 50 cm or color images with a spatial resolution better than 2 m.2 What does the 2014 decision mean for law enforcement? It means that vehicles and vehicle license plates would be distinguishable. Human faces would be recognizable and possibly clear enough to run through facial recognition algorithms. The previous rules were put in place by the U.S. Department of Commerce 14 years ago to prevent the acquisition of precision satellite imagery by terrorist organizations.3 However, there are identified inconsistencies in the U.S. rules on aerial photography, as aerial imagery from airplanes has been allowed as far back in history as World War I.4
According to Leitia Long, head of the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, restricting higher satellite photograph resolutions beyond those used for governmental purposes could cost U.S. industry its competitive edge.5 The 2014 ruling is significant for many reasons. Most notably, sharper satellite images allow satellite companies to compete in the commercial marketplace with aerial photographs historically taken from planes and other aircraft. This alone could generate greater profits for satellite companies and investments in satellite technology.
In November 2013, Skybox Imaging, based in China, launched a satellite that can acquire images at a three-foot resolution, capturing both images and high-definition video. The company also released video footage from satellites it made available to the public. The footage shows planes landing at Beijing airport in stunning detail—individual planes can easily be identified and cars can be seen driving around the airport.6
Satellite technology is getting cheaper and smaller, with camera lens capabilities that have never been utilized before.7 A growing trend indicates that satellite surveillance images are being used to gather market-moving information. For instance, UBS Investment Research issued its earnings preview for Walmart in 2010, which publicly revealed they had been using satellite services of private-sector satellite companies to monitor the parking lots at Walmart stores.8 Essentially a market has developed for high-resolution satellite images, which has driven satellite companies to invest more in satellite technology and launch more satellites. The natural evolution will be providing access to live satellite footage. Private sectors have capitalized on this near-future technology, and there is opportunity for law enforcement agencies to do the same.
Positive Effects for the Police
Surveillance cameras have become a staple for most municipal law enforcement organizations. Whether the cameras are located at a business, residence, or government entity, it is common practice for law enforcement professionals to canvas an area after a crime has been committed to search for surveillance cameras that might have captured images of the crime or suspects. The Boston Marathon bombing investigation is a great example of how surveillance cameras can be used to assist law enforcement.9 Surveillance camera footage is often limited, though, as those cameras are sporadically located. Imagine surveillance cameras covering every inch of a city 24 hours a day, seven days a week? That will be the result when live-streaming satellite footage becomes available.
On a broader federal law enforcement scope, issues like organized crime, trafficking, and smuggling could be investigated in a more efficient manner, and partnerships with military organizations could greatly increase national security.10 Local police departments could utilize the technology in myriad ways, as many situations could be monitored live from a real-time crime center.11 Accurate real-time information such as suspect description and direction of travel could be relayed to the officers responding to events, and law enforcement agencies would no longer need to rely on ambiguous or potentially incorrect information from witnesses.
Several police agencies, like the Sacramento, California, Police Department have already invested in real-time crime centers and are benefiting from the ability to monitor various events live using a variety of cameras throughout the city.12 When live-streaming satellite footage becomes available, incidents that currently plague municipal police departments like vehicle and foot pursuits would no longer be necessary as the suspects’ actions could be monitored live and the need to engage in pursuits would be decreased. The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office began launching its next generation satellites in 2018, and newer satellites could include features such as even more powerful resolution cameras; infrared sensors to peer through smoke; and electro-optical hardware, which can spot objects that absorb or emit electromagnetic energy.13 Think of the ways these enhanced images could impact real-time responses to events, as well as the investigation of officer-involved shootings and other critical incidents. The satellite footage could be paired with other emerging technologies like facial recognition software and license plate reader systems to greatly increase the success rates for investigations.14
Negative Effects: Criminals Will Use It Too
As with many emerging technologies, there could also be negative implications for which law enforcement agencies would have to prepare. Individuals who have an inclination to prey on others could use the satellite footage for unethical purposes. A burglar could watch when someone leaves for work and burglarize a house. A sexual predator could watch a person leave a nightclub intoxicated and alone, identifying that person as a target. A robber could watch for an opportune time to target a business. Those same individuals could check an area for police cars or lack thereof to ensure no police presence before committing a crime. These are possibilities that law enforcement agencies must be prepared for and have plans in place to counteract.
Protecting Individuals’ and Their Right to Privacy
The use of comprehensive satellite surveillance would dramatically reduce the average person’s expectation of privacy. Consider the hypothetical, but plausible scenario of live-streaming satellite images of cities being made available to the public. On any given weekend, perhaps an individual goes to McDonalds for lunch; stops at a gas station for alcohol, tobacco, or lottery tickets; and then sits out by the pool without applying sunscreen. The individual’s actions that day could be viewed by his or her employer, insurance company, family, or friends, any of whom could’ve been critical of the person’s decisions or actions. That level of scrutiny would occur day after day to every person. “We like to think we have some privacy in our lives, that we can go places that we don’t necessarily want the government to know about,” said Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet civil liberties group. “What concerns me is, if all of those cameras get linked together at some point, and if we apply facial recognition on the back end, we’ll be able to track people wherever they go.”15
However, Farhad Manjoo, a technology columnist for the New York Times and the author of True Enough, wrote
When you weigh cameras against other security measures, they emerge as the least costly and most effective choice. In the aftermath of 9/11, we’ve turned most public spaces into fortresses—now, it’s impossible for you to get into tall buildings, airports, many museums, concerts, and even public celebrations without being subjected to pat-downs and metal detectors. When combined with competent law enforcement, surveillance cameras are more effective, less intrusive, less psychologically draining, and much more pleasant than these alternatives.16
Solution: Establish Real-Time Crime Centers & Oversight
To help prepare for this future, law enforcement agencies must begin preparing now. One significant step would be to establish real-time crime centers in order to most effectively utilize the data that will be available. In addition to the live-streaming satellite footage, law enforcement agencies must be prepared to process and analyze video data from a variety of sources in real-time environments. Drone footage, police observation devices, pole cameras, surveillance cameras, body cameras, and in-car camera systems are already being utilized. The quantity and quality of video currently available for law enforcement is significant, and live-streaming satellite footage would exponentially increase that. Establishing real-time crime centers will allow law enforcement agencies to monitor activity in their communities and maximize their efficiency. As stated, several municipal law enforcement agencies have already established real-time crime centers and provide models for other agencies to follow.17
With the significant amount of data that would become available to law enforcement organizations, oversight must be established to ensure that abuses don’t occur. Law enforcement agencies must establish policies and procedures to ensure the data are used appropriately and public confidence is maintained. The policies and procedures would need to provide a balance of privacy interests and the usage of data to make communities safer.18
In recent years, communities are demanding more transparency from municipal law enforcement agencies. While agencies are engaging in various reforms to increase their transparency with the public, live-streaming satellite footage would have a profound effect on that issue. Agencies currently struggle to balance the need to retain video footage from in-car and body-worn camera systems within department control for evidentiary purposes with the need to be transparent with the communities they serve. Many communities have demanded the immediate public release of police department video upon the occurrence of a controversial law enforcement–related incident.
Live-streaming satellite footage would significantly increase a police department’s transparency with the public, as any actions taken by a law enforcement agency in public could be viewed live by any member of the public. However, departments would no longer have the luxury of not releasing video of an event, as it would already be out in the public. As such, agencies would have little time to react to negative publicity events. Therefore, municipal police departments must be prepared and have media crisis plans in place for this likely eventuality. Furthermore, departments must also prepare for the realization that many of their employees’ work environments and locations would be easily accessible to the public. Safeguards and tactics must be put in place to ensure that officers are safe from groups that might want to cause them harm.
Conclusion
When live-streaming satellite footage of cities across the globe becomes available, it will greatly enhance the law enforcement profession’s ability to protect communities. If equipped properly, departments will be able to monitor their cities live, respond to incidents with greater precision, reduce department liabilities during critical incidents, and increase officer safety—and fewer unsolved crimes. Furthermore, with proper policies, oversight, and transparency, the privacy concerns of the general public can be mitigated. If done right, the public will view law enforcement agencies use of this emerging technology more efficient and effective policing instead of “big brother” or over-surveillance. Is your department ready?
Notes:
1 Emily Chung, “Sharper Satellite Images Allowed, As U.S. Loosen Rules,” CBC News, June 24, 2014.
2 Chung, “Sharper Satellite Images Allowed, As U.S. Loosen Rules.”
3 Ray Purdy. “Ruling on Sharper Satellite Images Poses a Privacy Problem We Can No Longer Ignore,” PHYS.org, June 18, 2014.
4 Philip Bump, “Here’s Why the Resolution of Satellite Images Never Seems to Improve,” The Washington Post, April 21, 2017.
5 Andrea Shalal, “DigitalGlobe Gains U.S. Govt License to Sell Sharper Satellite Imagery,” Reuters, June 11, 2014.
6 Mark Prigg, “The Breathtaking LIVE Satellite Footage of Earth So Accurate You Can Watch Cars in the Street and Planes Taking Off,” Daily Mail, updated March 8, 2014.
7 Jamie Condliffe, “How Swarms of Tiny Satellites Are Creating a Real-Time Google Earth,” Gizmodo, January 9, 2014.
8 Eamon Javers, “New Big Brother: Market-Moving Satellite Images,” CNBC, updated August 17, 2010.
9 Jon Healey, “Surveillance Cameras and the Boston Marathon Bombing,” Los Angeles Times, April 17, 2013.
10 Kieron Monks, “Spy Satellites Fighting Crime from Space,” CNN, updated August 12, 2014.
11 Mike Fox, “How Real-Time Crime Center Technologies Are Force Multipliers,” PoliceOne, April 15, 2014.
12 Kevin Ebi, “Sacramento’s Real-Time Crime Center, And Why You Need One,” American City & County, May 8, 2017.
13 Kelly Dickerson, “Companies Want to Launch Satellites That Can See a Phone in Your Hand from Space,” Business Insider, October 12, 2015.
14 Megan Behrman, “When Gangs Go Viral: Using Social Media and Surveillance Cameras to Enhance Gang Databases,” Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 29, no. 1 (Fall 2015): 315–338.
15 Heather Kelly “After Boston: The Pros and Cons of Surveillance Cameras,” CNN, updated April 26, 2013.
16 Kelly, “After Boston: The Pros and Cons of Surveillance Cameras.”
17 Ebi, “Sacramento’s Real-Time Crime Center, And Why You Need One.”
18 Angelo J Pompano, “Privacy in the Age of Video Surveillance: This Is Not Your Father’s Candid Camera,” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 2000.
