Allied Media Conference 2022: Unraveling the Links Between Design and Policing

Unraveling the
Links Between
Design and Policing
Nina Alter & Sarah Fathallah

01
OPENING
Naming norms
for engaging with and
contributing to this space.
02
FRAMING
Understanding what design
and policing have in common,
and why it matters.
03
REFLECTION
Digging into a few of the
common levers reinforced by
both design and policing.
04
CONCLUSION
Sharing back individual
reﬂections and discussing
as a group.
#AMC2022 • @ninavizz • @sft7la

Engagement Norms
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NINA ALTER
(she/her)
Designer/researcher
serving public
interest tech
Mt Hood, OR
SARAH FATHALLAH
(they/she)
Participatory
researcher, designer,
and educator
Oakland, CA
MEET THE FACILITATORS

Design creates the tools, products, and
built environments of policing.

Source: Bures et. al., “Methodology of Digital Firearm Ergonomic Design,” 2017.

Source: American Institute of Architects Chicago, “Applying Trauma-Informed Design Concepts in Correctional Facilities,” 2020.

Source: Caroline Haskins, “Revealed: This Is Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops,” Vice, 2019.

Source: Service Design Network, “Fjord: Developing a Police Force's Digital Experience for Citizens,” 2018.

Source: Jim Gordon, “How to Use Design Thinking to Address Critical Issues in Policing,” Police1, 2019.

Source: Theo Inglis, “The CIA Has Always Understood the Power of Graphic Design,” AIGA Eye on Design, 2021.

Source: ArtCenter, “Building Trust, Bridging Divides: Designing for the Long Beach PD and Community,” n.d.

Source: Moen et. al., “Increasing Police Trustworthiness Through A User-Oriented Design Approach,” International Conference on Engineering & Product Design Education, 2014.

Design affords policing a focus on
perception and user experience.

"Policing is, in its very nature, in opposition to self-determination. The practices of
watching, questioning, intimidating and arresting people through the use of force
are violent practices. Not only do cops use threats of violence—the guns on their
hips, the clubs on their belts—to control people, they often use force in making
stops, inquiries, and arrests. Harassment of people on the street or ‘stop and frisk’
practices—stopping people to frisk them for drugs or weapons—are tools often
used to intimidate, monitor, and control poor people and people of color. While
we’re told the police are on the street to stop or solve ‘crime,’ their very presence
is a way of enforcing social control, and actually creates more violence."
—Critical Resistance, On Policing, 2009.
enforcing social control

"One [should see] policing for what it is—a set of practices sanctioned by
the state to enforce law and maintain social control and cultural hegemony
through the use of force."
—Rachel Herzing, "Big Dreams and Bold Steps
Towards a Police-Free Future," 2016.
maintain social control and cultural hegemony

“Design is a cultural and social practice involved with the production of
things, services, spaces and communication that direct human activities.”
Design reproduces existing social norms and often encourages new
normative behavior. [...] Design functions through the operation of
symbolic violence where designers develop expertise in creating order
by manufacturing certain subjectivities. Design disciplines the public by
encouraging social hierarchies where people distinguish themselves with
their ‘good’ taste and commitment to quality.”
—Dr. Joanna Boehnert & Dimeji Onafuwa,
“Design as Symbolic Violence,” 2016.
direct human activities
disciplines the public
creating order

“Design has doubtlessly been a central political technology of modernity.
[...] Designers [understand] innovation and creativity to the extent
that these are often entangled with the reproduction of the
(capitalist and colonial) status quo.”
—Arturo Escobar, “Designs for the pluriverse: radical
interdependence, autonomy, and the making of worlds,” 2017.
political technology of modernity

Design affords policing a focus on
perception and user experience.
Design AND POLICING both ENFORCE social
control, HEGEMONY, AND NORMATIVITY.

What is social control?
Sociologists deﬁne social control as the way that
the norms, rules, laws, and structures of society
regulate human behavior.
Social control is enacted when societies use
social, economic, and institutional structures to
control their populations and create “social order.”

Some common LEvers of social control
1. Commodiﬁcation of rights
2. Racial discrimination
3. Gender discrimination
4. Coercion
5. Weaponized empathy
6. Weaponized neutrality
7. Surveillance
And more!

Source: VentureBeat, “Research: A Market Where Consumers Can Pay for Privacy Is Emerging,” 2021.

COMMODIFICATION OF RIGHTS
EXAMPLES
Policing
The cash bail system
puts a dollar amount on
the right to freedom.
Design
Pay-for-privacy (PFP) model
requiring consumers to pay to
avoid data collection and
targeted ads.

Source: Ruth Hailu, “Fitbits And Other Wearables May Not Accurately Track Heart Rates In People Of Color, Stat, 2019.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
EXAMPLES
Policing
Racial proﬁling in police stops
and interactions.
Design
Optical heart monitor
inaccurate on darker skinned
people.

Source: Lucas Waldron and Brenda Medina, “When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searchers Sometimes Wait on the Other Side,” ProPublica, 2019.

GENDER DISCRIMINATION
EXAMPLES
Policing
Jail, prison, and detention
center assignments and
harassment of trans people.
Design
TSA body scanners ﬂagging
trans/non normative bodies in
airports.

Source: Alexandra S. Levine, “Suicide Hotline Shares Data with For-Proﬁt Spinoff, Raising Ethical Questions,” Politico, 2022.

COERCION
EXAMPLES
Policing
Police coercion, pressure, and
intimidation tactics.
Design
Selling data of users of crisis
text line because they’re
assumed to have consented
to sharing it.

Source: Peter Holley, “The Latest Tool To Help Police Develop Empathy For The Public: Virtual Reality Headsets,” The Washington Post, 2019.

WEAPONIZED EMPATHY
EXAMPLES
Policing
Cops given VR headsets to
learn how to empathize with
communities.
Design
Designers assuming the
experience of disability
through “disability
simulation” activities.

Source: Kashmir Hill, “How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did,” Forbes, 2012.

WEAPONIZED NEUTRALITY
EXAMPLES
Policing
AI-powered risk assessments
employed to predict people’s
likelihood of committing
a crime.
Design
Analytics used to predict
purchasing decisions.

Source: Emily Mullin, “A Rape Survivor Gave Police Her DNA. They Linked Her to Another Crime,” Wired, 2022.

SURveillance
EXAMPLES
Policing
Rape-kit DNA use by police
departments in unrelated
investigations.
Design
Potential use of period app data
to out pregnant people.

Recap of the 7 LEvers of social control
1. Commodiﬁcation of rights
2. Racial discrimination
3. Gender discrimination
4. Coercion
5. Weaponized empathy
6. Weaponized neutrality
7. Surveillance

ADD SCREENSHOT TO MIRO

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER COMMODIFICATION OF RIGHTS
How it’s reproduced by policing and
judiciary bodies
Cash bail system; “no poor people on death row;” paying for programming to meet probation requirements;
paying for food, personal hygiene items, and ability to community with loved ones outside (while
incarcerated in jail / prison); inadequate representation when unable to afford a lawyer; having to produce a
driver’s license or ID to navigate or access a space; voter ID laws.
How it manifests in design practices
Bathroom access in public spaces restricted to purchase; paywalled journalism (an electorate’s right to
information); billboard ads in less afﬂuent neighborhoods; transportation costs or other accessible access
(e.g., costs based on distance); gentriﬁcation and home security; paid VPN access; compensation for
participation (or lack thereof).
How it was experienced in personal
examples
Paying for services to scrub data from the internet; having to pay so much money so be able to communicate
with sibling who is incarcerated and not being able to pay bail; JPay is expensive.
Relevance to current social climate
The rise of conspiracy theories that target oppressed populations due to lack of free information; folks who
have been targeted by police and other law enforcement agencies during protests in 2020 and 2022 found
themselves punished for their criticism by everything from city municipal fees for misdemeanor charges or
charged with felonies that they couldn’t be bailed out for without community support.
Tactics for resistance
Using 12ft.io to circumvent paywalls; ad blockers; mutual aid (offering basic needs, bathrooms, jail support,
etc.); organizing of movement lawyers who represent people for free, community bail funds.
Contributions from session participants, shared with permission.

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER Racial discrimination
judiciary bodies
Racial profiling; officer contact; wrongful identification by facial recognition tech; sentencing algorithms;
mandatory minimums; lack of access to cultural supports and services; stereotypes of Black men having
"superhuman" strength.
Products with visual recognition that don’t recognize darker skin or non-anglo facial structures; optical heart
monitor ineffectiveness with darker skin; RING app; “Shirley card” and recognizing dark skin tones in
photography; consumer products meant for Black and brown folks much more limited (makeup, “skin color”
clothes, etc.).
examples
When posting multiple pics to Twitter, the app kept only showing photos of white folks in the image preview
(see story); Census doesn't include racial/ethnic categories for brown SWANA people-folded under "white."
Recent uprisings and rebellions, in defense of Black lives; protests against CRT; attempts to remove racial
language from education settings; new interest in PIC abolition and the organizing of the defund movement.
Tactics for resistance Make-up or fabric designs to scramble tech; defunding police and surveillance budgets in cities.

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER gender discrimination
judiciary bodies
Trans jail/prison assignment; ofﬁcer harassment of trans constituents in public; arrests for carrying needles
for hormones; recent anti-trans bills.
Body scanners at the airport ﬂagging trans/non normative bodies; binary gendered clothing and sports
equipment; binary gendered sports and academic classing for competition and scholarships; industrial
design based on male bodies (thinking about how seatbelts do not work well with breasts or pregnant
bellies or fat bellies).
examples
Tinder only has options for men/women, no space for nonbinary folks.
Relevance to current social climate Reproductive rights; bathroom access discourse; anti-trans bills that block medical care to youth.
Tactics for resistance Culture of retaliation for speaking up in orgs; teaching children about being inclusive to all gender identities.

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER coercion
judiciary bodies
SCOTUS Miranda Rights decision; informed consent laws with youth; police being allowed/encouraged to lie;
use of chemical weapons of war in civilian spaces to suppress protest; judicial diversion programs (offering
an illusion of choice); police ultimatums and a "just comply" attitude; carrying of military grade weapons;
police appearing at rallies in riot gear as a passive threat; armed security in schools; "Opt Out" design
mandated by policymakers in deceptive legislation.
No one reads the terms and conditions because they’re just too long/too complex/asked at the wrong time;
hiding “unsubscribe” on email lists; mandate to submit credit card to try a product for free; "implied consent"
with crisis text lines; using opt-out tactics rather than opt-in; ad targeting or "Ad Preferences;” subscription
model; pro-police narratives in advertising; copaganda.
examples
Being asked questions by border patrol agents at airports (very much feels like you don't have the option not
to answer if you want to be let in); having cops block my path when walking in an attempt to question me;
"you should talk to us if you have nothing to hide."
Latest Supreme Court decision protecting cops from lawsuits for not reading Miranda rights; all the latest
SCOTUS decisions regarding immigrants.
Knowing your rights, and telling other people about them; pitching a civics column to your local paper to
educate citizens about their rights (a HS teacher of mine writes "5 Minute Civics” in ours); KYR; advocate for
more plain language terms and conditions in design products; offer more than one point of consent when
signing up for a product (continuous opportunities for refusal); more community legal defense; community
trust housing.

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER Weaponized empathy
judiciary bodies
Law enforcement use of VR programming to empathize with communities; copaganda and cop-centered
media; police ride-alongs for youth; DARE; copaganda.
"Design Thinking" methods without constituent participation; presumed disability experiences; empathizing
to design for othered experiences; doing the research but not giving up power of decision making.
examples
Suggestion services in social media; working with industry colleagues and partners who pay lip service to
empathy in order to justify the design of products and services; in my hometown there's a DARE speech
contest every year and the winner gets to ride in a cop car during the annual Memorial Day parade.
Police departments, Border Patrol, SCOTUS, and other institutions deploying PR tactics when facing
“legitimacy crises.”
Boycotting VR companies?; attending school board/council meetings to argue for ending DARE program;
centering lived experience in the design of products / services; looking at Drug User Unions as a model.

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER Weaponized neutrality
judiciary bodies
Predictive algorithms that can "inform" where crime most likely to happen; sentencing algorithms; judiciary
system, period; trafﬁc routes & management tactics imposing access, entrapment, pollution, or disability
restrictive tactics to neighborhoods.
Predictive tech (e.g., Target knew person was pregnant); what is “helpful” and what is “harmful” and by
whom for whom; transit routes and schedules impacting neighborhoods and social/wealth access; redlining;
a focus on equality over equity; means testing.
examples
Psychotherapists; the way that capitalism makes it hard to choose to act. If I go to a protest, will I lose my
job?; employers claiming they're "apolitical,” journalists needing to share "both sides" and creating a false
equivalency; code-switching.
Relevance to current social climate The idea of being in a "post-racial" world, therefore there isn't a need for equity measures.
Tactics for resistance Design for the "edges" not for "everyone;" resisting “apolitical” discourse.

SOCIAL CONTROL LEVER surveillance
judiciary bodies
DNA from rape kit matched survivor to burglary; used against her for prosecution; panoptic impact of
personal agency in camera-dense neighborhoods; gunshot detection triangulation & police funding;
(presumptive) use of menstrual app data to ID defendants in "murder" cases; police officer deployment; facial
recognition tech; police collaboration with security companies; carding; school fingerprinting programs; cops
having regular status at community businesses; traffic cameras; travel info feeding into other systems.
Browser cookies serving ads based on search queries; device microphones passively capturing speech to AI
match to served ads; designing buildings in ways that do not allow for blocked sight lines; Alexa/Siri/Ring
cameras; public sector use of malware; location-based data collection; FaceID or fingerprint scanners; store
club cards connecting purchases to databases.
examples
Social media platforms; facial recognition from photographs posted on the internet; being questioned by
police after being identified from CCTV footage; being followed by drones; helicopter fly-overs.
Relevance to current social climate Increased powers of the police state; more sophisticated tools and technology available to the PIC.
Only using period tracking apps that don't sell data; not using period apps (or on TikTok people calling
period who don’t get periods to use the apps to track other things like workouts or food intake to screw with
the data); Tor network; use of Tor Browser, or hosting Tor circuits/bridges; use of encrypted messaging apps
& data storage; disappearing messages; refusing facial or thumbprint ID on devices; browser extensions to
block adware; refusing cookies in web browsers; using SIM passwords on phones & keeping locked when
in "adversarial" spaces; blocking cameras & mics on devices (note: Zuckerberg does both—which should
suggest, ahem, that we should); EFF's "Surveillance Self Defense" guide; "Adversarial Ware" fabrics to
spoof camera tracking of license plates.

SHARE-BACK AND DISCUSSION PROMPTS
EXPERIENCES SALIENCE TACTICS
How have you seen
these levers of social
control manifest?
Why is this
important in the
current social and
political climate?
How can we resist
these levers of social
control?

bit.ly/designandpolicing
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Connect with us!
Nina: @ninavizz
Sarah: @sft7la

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