Gang Databases & Social Media

While police across the country have touted gang and social media databases as innovative and vital public safety tools, defense attorneys, community members and clients have raised concerns that these tools are infringements on liberty, due process, and have done little more than digitize structural racism. From how gangs are defined, how members are validated, and who becomes part of the database, the complexities of these police discovery and monitoring tools routinely come up in courts across the Commonwealth and they have grave implications for the outcome of cases. Increased reliance on these digitized databases warrants new and updated discovery and suppression motion practice.

Join the experts as we look into what these databases are, how they are used, and how defense attorneys can address the due process and racial profiling issues raised.