Growing the Surveillance State: Drones, Facial Recognition, AI Enlisted to Fight Crime but at What Cost?

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August 20, 2024

By Jesse Smith

Big Brother is at it again. With rising crime as the backdrop, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is growing the surveillance state with a plan to use drones to fight crime in Central Park. Sadly, neither rising crime or increasing surveillance are unique to NYC, as both are becoming global trends indicative of a much greater agenda.

Gone are the days when “Robocop” and “Skynet” were just dystopian ideas for Hollywood blockbusters. The dark, distant future those films portrayed is now a present reality. In classic problem-reaction-solution fashion, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD are preparing to deploy surveillance drones to stop lawlessness in Central Park.

According to the New York Post, the drones could be patrolling the skies very soon:

Central Park frolickers could soon find themselves under Big Brother surveillance from NYPD drones flying above them, as the iconic green space struggles with a whopping crime increase.

Tech-loving Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday floated the notion and also using nebulous other “new technology” to deal with a worrisome surge in sex crimes, assaults and robberies in Central Park — including an incident involving three teenage muggers targeting a trio of park-goers that very morning.

Peace and Safety – But at What Cost?

The goal of authoritarian technocrats is to employ technology to control every aspect of society from dispensing justice to collecting garbage. When a crisis develops, such as an increase in violent crime, they rush in with a pre-planned solution to increase surveillance under the guise of protecting the innocent. However, the ultimate goal is to erect a pervasive surveillance system capable of monitoring human actions and interactions at all times.

When considering why footage of violent and bizarre crime is so prevalent on social and traditional media, one reason may be to provoke the population to demand a solution. Growing outrage over injustice might be the perfect catalyst to achieve a pre-determined outcome. If people respond positively to openly being spied on, the technocratic psyop gains steam and becomes a rousing success. Weary of being preyed upon by people with bad intentions, many in NYC are taking the bait and praising the mayor’s proposals.

In New York, drone surveillance may begin in Central Park but if left unchecked, it will eventually engulf the whole Big Apple. As more cities implement similar policies and deploy comparable technologies, mass surveillance threatens to spread throughout the entire country. While everyone is preoccupied with the latest “thing” on social media, the surveillance state is advancing largely unopposed.

Confirming the spread of Big Brother tech, Biometric Update recently reported that police departments countrywide are launching drone surveillance programs:

Police across the U.S. are putting eyes in the sky, as the adoption of drones for law enforcement emerges as a trend…

In short, U.S. police now have the ability to patrol lower airspace with drones that are ready to host facial recognition cameras and software, and some have laws that allow the two technologies to be used together. Like drones, facial recognition for law enforcement is seeing increasing uptake.

In the following interview, Adams discusses the problems with allowing (largely) unvetted illegal immigrants to enter the country and later be transported to New York and other cities where crime is increasing and tensions are rising.

Could the country’s failed immigration policy be part of a broader plan to get legal citizens to accept greater surveillance measures for the entire population as part of the solution? The constant fearmongering of repeated terror attacks worked to increase domestic spying after 9/11, so why not repeat the same strategy with threats of immigrant violence?

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Immigrants Exploited to Test and Improve the Systems to Later be Used on All of Us

Unwittingly, immigrants themselves play a large role in growing the surveillance state. The biometric data collected at the border is being used to train and improve the algorithms to be employed in a broader surveillance scheme intended for the entire population.

In an article about the fiasco at the US-Mexican border, Whitney Webb writes:

While the justifications for the frenzied media coverage are based on the actual reality that the border is indeed highly insecure (and has been for some time), the policy responses from American politicians reveal that there is a bipartisan consensus about what must be done. Tellingly, the same “solution” is also being quietly rolled out at all American ports of entry that are not currently being “overrun”, such as airports. That solution, of course, is biometric surveillance, enabled by AI, facial recognition/biometrics and autonomous devices.

This “solution” is not just being implemented throughout the United States as an alleged means of thwarting migrants, it is also being rapidly implemented throughout the world in apparent lockstep…”

The MIT Technology Review recently reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is planning to collect facial recognition from children “down to the infant,” though DHS has denied the claims coming from John Boyd, assistant director of the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM). However, where there is smoke there is fire, as other individuals interviewed in the MIT story confirmed that children have been participants in facial recognition scanning at migrant processing centers at the US-Mexico border. Many of the children giving up their biometric data, including DNA, arrive without parents or legal guardians and face exploitation and pressure to get scanned or be turned away.

In a recent post on X, Webb reiterated that both left and right political factions are complicit in pushing biometrics and digital ID on everyone, not just immigrants.

The MIT article backs the assertion that immigrants are being used as test subjects to improve surveillance technologies, stating:

That this technology is being targeted at people who are offered fewer privacy protections than would be afforded to US citizens is just part of the wider trend of using people from the developing world, whether they are migrants coming to the border or civilians in war zones, to help improve new technologies.

Aside from the influx of illegal US immigrants, “any traveler, visitor or migrant” to and from all Five Eyes nations (the US, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand) must submit biometric data that is being shared between countries in the “Known to One, Known to All” program. This “Migration 5” initiative demonstrates that many Western nations are following the same agenda to increase biometric data collection and surveillance.

Is Civil Unrest Being Facilitated on Purpose?

In addition to the crimes being committed by illegals in the US, Mayor Adams also stated that recent protests over the Israel-Palestine conflict and terror threats have put a strain on law enforcement resources. As a result, the additional technology is necessary to keep the public safe. One should ask if all of this is by design. A look at the current situation in the U.K., where Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for mass surveillance and censorship to thwart riots and civil unrest, may provide the answers:

Is America on the brink of major civil unrest resembling the summer of 2020 or worse? This scenario certainly seems possible given the current climate where division, strife, and hatred among various groups festers. Dividing the population between left and right political camps with no viable alternative is a stroke of genius. In July 2020, I wrote about the techniques employed by the global cabal to divide and conquer, proclaiming:

The ancient ruse of dividing and conquering an enemy is being employed to perfection in America. The trap of a global technocracy is advancing rapidly and very few even notice…The enemies of America, and humanity in general, have perfected the tactic of creating division and strife among the people to get them to fight against themselves. Their modus operandi is to first create chaos and then swoop in to create a new order that promises to solve the problems of the past, but secretly works only to their benefit.

Take a look at America today. What do you see? The country is currently filled with division and hatred fueled by the propaganda of mainstream media. Americans are pitted against each other on the left vs. right political spectrum; blacks vs. whites; males vs. females; protesters vs. police; conservatives vs. liberals; mask wearers vs. mask resisters; vaccine proponents vs. anti-vaxxers; young vs. old; rich vs. poor, and on and on…

Setting a nation on course to destroy itself from within is the easiest way to win a war.”

It seems like not much has changed since then. But taking the bait to engage in violence against one’s perceived enemies is exactly what technocrats desire so their plans to erect a pre-crime surveillance network, complete with live facial recognition, can continue unabated.

Going even further down the dystopian rabbit hole, the NY Post article discloses that Adams is also contemplating using AI to solve policing problems throughout the city. Spoken like a true technocrat, the Mayor declared his love for AI, asserting:

I think AI is a gamechanger on how we can run cities more efficiently, more effectively and more safe,” he said. “What if you could identify a gun as soon as it’s pulled out? That’s a huge, huge boost.”

Increased use of surveillance, facial recognition, biometric identification, and AI may also offer answers as to why police have been defunded and prevented from doing their jobs in many cities throughout the country. To continue growing the surveillance state, crime has to actually increase to justify using AI and other Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. Not only that, but the populace also has to continually be bombarded with all the violent acts taking place, hence the role of the media in ensuring it is visible.

As citizens continue to feel less safe, many welcome the extra measures employed to curtail violence while often lacking understanding of the greater issue: the eradication of privacy due to inescapable surveillance.

@1800SPOILED/Twitter Mikael Thalen

Under Adams’ leadership in New York, the police department has already deployed a robot police dog, a “snitchBot” to patrol subways and Times Square, and expanded drone usage throughout the city. In late July, the Mayor also had weapons scanners installed in the subways as part of a contentious 30-day pilot program with CBS News reporting that:

The plan is to eventually install the systems at major subway stations all across the city.

“We’re officially launching an initial pilot of a groundbreaking new weapons detection technology. We will be deploying electromagnetic detection systems at select subway stations over the next month,” Mayor Eric Adams said.

Again, with public safety as the justification to monitor weapons in subway stations, many who are fearful while using public transportation will welcome the technology. However, with a few tweaks, could measures like this one day be used to deny legal gun owners of their right to possess a firearm?

Mayors, legislators, prosecutors, and judges in major cities throughout the country are impeding law enforcement agencies from capturing and detaining criminals. Many are quickly back on the streets after committing robberies, rapes, and other physical assaults. Instead, the technocrats running these localities behind the scenes are turning to robotic, biometric, and AI-powered systems to do the jobs for them.

The objective is to replace human workers with tech and to create autonomous systems that can be controlled by the secret algorithms programmed by Big Tech companies with deep ties to government agencies like the CIA, NSA, FBI, DoD, and DHS, to name a few. The many resources in our section on biometric ID prove this is no mere conspiracy theory.

According to Comparitech, New York City leads the country in the total amount of surveillance cameras with 70,882. Atlanta is currently the most surveilled city with a ratio of 124.14 cameras per 1,000 people. The rest of the top 10 most surveilled cities include:

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  3. San Francisco, California
  4. Denver, Colorado
  5. Chicago, Illinois
  6. Albuquerque, New Mexico
  7. Detroit, Michigan
  8. Las Vegas, Nevada
  9. Memphis, Tennessee

In West Palm Beach, Florida, a growing panopticon is emerging as detailed in an article from WUSF:

Above Clematis Street in Downtown West Palm Beach, sensors mounted on black poles are recording and tracking the movement of pedestrians, drivers and pests like raccoons.

Posters with QR codes alongside the sensors direct residents to a website with information about a new project that could improve mobility, traffic efficiency and public safety.

It builds on an existing surveillance program implemented in 2019, which deployed sensors to collect Wi-Fi signals and cell phone location data. This next phase would include cameras taking video recordings and the use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition software — and that gives even Jason Hallstrom pause.

“I do not love the idea of having video recorded of me in a public space. That makes me feel nervous … And I think that many residents and many visitors feel the same way,” said Hallstrom, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Florida Atlantic University.

Questions that must be asked and satisfactorily answered regarding this tech include where and how long will all this surveillance data be stored? Who has access to it? What do they do with it? Is it secure? How will it be used? Without understanding these details and offering the necessary pushback, the masses may be subjected to a fate worse than growing crime rates.

The 2030 Agenda to Push the World’s Population into Megacities

According to data from the World Bank, almost 60% of the world’s eight billion people live in a town or city. The UN reports that by 2050, two out of every three people are likely to be living in cities or other urban centers. It’s possible that by the end of the 21st century, 85% of the global population (10 billion inhabitants) may reside in cities.

Source: America2050.org (web archive)

This growing trend toward urban living serves the purpose of leaving most of the land and resources for the benefit of wealthy oligarchs while forcing most people into megacities rife with robust surveillance and AI-powered smart technologies to keep tabs on everyone’s whereabouts and activities. This is what the United Nations is planning through Agenda 21/2030 and the World Economic Forum is gearing up for with its plans for a great reset.

In Migration and the 2030 Agenda, a guide to help practitioners incorporate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the issue of protecting migrants is pushed to the forefront under the guise of reducing inequality, stating:

The 2030 Agenda recognizes migration as a core development consideration, which marks the first time migration is integrated explicitly into the global development agenda. The Agenda is relevant to all mobile populations regardless of whether internal or cross border, displaced or not: “goals and targets will be met for all nations and peoples and all segments of society.” It recognizes migrant women, men and children as a vulnerable group to be protected, and as agents of development. All types of migration should also be considered, including displacement…

In the quest for diversity, equity, and inclusion, legal citizens often suffer a reduced quality of life due to the current migration and border control policies. In Bizarro World fashion, the rights of migrants are taking precedence over the rights of actual citizens. The guide, produced in 2018, demonstrates that the migration policies of Western (and all) nations are not being determined by the supposedly sovereign governments of these nations, but by an international scheme emanating from the UN.

The inclusion of migration in the Sustainable Development Goals sets an important precedent for how migration governance can progress in years to come…

The inclusion of migration in the SDGs also paves the way towards greater collaboration between the migration and development sectors and, through this, towards greater policy coherence. The 2030 Agenda has been named a “declaration of interdependence” (United Nations, 2016).

This strategy is also underscored by the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, a resolution adopted in 2019 to:

  • foster international cooperation among all relevant actors on migration, acknowledging that no State can address migration alone…
  • express our collective commitment to improving cooperation on international migration.
  • set out our common understanding, shared responsibilities and unity of purpose regarding migration, making it work for all.

While the UN ascribes to itself only noble intentions, the migration scheme has also been described in the Cloward-Piven strategy, which paints a much different picture of the real intentions behind mass migration/immigration and the social and economic changes that result.

These global agendas also help explain why immigrants have been transported to major urban areas throughout the country and given housing and financial support at citizens’ expense. The stress this causes local communities seems like a deliberate strategy to potentially advance an even more nefarious agenda – direct policing by the military.

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In addition to the digital tyranny of megacities, growing urbanization may also lead to regionalized police states with direct military oversight as envisioned by the Pentagon in its Megacities: Urban Future, the Emerging Complexity report. The video below was first obtained by The Intercept through a FOIA request and later made available to the public.

According to constitutional attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute,

The U.S. military plans to take over America by 2030.

No, this is not another conspiracy theory. Although it easily could be.

Nor is it a Hollywood political thriller in the vein of John Frankenheimer’s 1964 political thriller Seven Days in May about a military coup d’etat.

Although it certainly has all the makings of a good thriller.

No, this is the real deal, coming at us straight from the horse’s mouth.

According to “Megacities: Urban Future, the Emerging Complexity,” a Pentagon training video created by the Army for U.S. Special Operations Command, the U.S. military plans to use armed forces to solve future domestic political and social problems.

What they’re really talking about is martial law, packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation’s security.”

Involving the military-industrial complex in politics and social issues is a recipe for disaster.

Not only is the Pentagon gearing up for domestic threats including “criminal networks,” “religious and ethnic tensions,” and a “growing mass of unemployed,” it is also entangled in regional wars between Ukraine and Russia as well as Israel-Palestine-Iran and a growing number of Middle Eastern countries. A war against China promising heavy usage of drones is also not off the table if it crosses a line against Taiwan.

Action against a growing list of enemies both foreign and domestic seems to be the lynchpin for greater tyranny and oppression. With the WHO declaring a public health emergency due to mpox, an upcoming U.S. presidential (s)election that’s bound to be contentious no matter who “wins,” and tensions rising over immigration, the economy, abortion, and a whole host of issues, a perfect storm of chaos has commenced. Could this ‘polycrisis’ situation be the excuse used to one day justify direct military takeover?

Perhaps James Madison, fourth president of the United States said it best when it comes to loss of freedoms resulting from war:

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”
– James Madison, Chief Architect of the Constitution

Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste

To those desiring a technocratic society where Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled smart cities powered by AI and 5G (and potentially 6G), perennial warfare, rising crime, and ethnic tension are welcome trends. Like former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, they believe that:

You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

The twin crises of lawlessness and warfare are being used to usher in a totalitarian system of surveillance that would make even George Orwell turn over in his grave. Don’t be fooled by the “altruistic” scam promising to only use drones, robots, and biometric surveillance for good. In the short term, these tools may reduce and even prevent violent crime, but they may also be used to make criminals of us all for even the slightest infractions.

Resistance and Opting Out

The powers that should not be believe they have the future of humanity locked up according to their desires. They are determined to make serfs out of those who survive the coming manmade disasters threatening to alter the course of humanity for decades to come. However, resistance is never futile and should be pursued with vigor to the best of one’s ability.

Much of what governments and international organizations worldwide are doing is just plain evil. Evil must be resisted and replaced with good. This means that those who will defend religious and constitutional freedom must be prepared to fight a long battle and should count the cost before proceeding.

Understanding the purpose and limits to government authority is a must. For those that may need a reminder, here is a quick primer*:

  • Government exists to provide a just and peaceful society and must discourage evildoers.
  • Government has limits to its authority at every level and must render justice as God defines it.
  • A government that does, or encourages, evil has acted beyond its authority and must be defied.
  • We do not need to submit to evil commands or support legislation and policies that exceed the government’s scope.
  • Individuals can resist tyranny through petitions, flight, civil disobedience, activism, journalism, and through artistic expression.
  • States and counties are supposed to act as a defense from federal overreach.
  • States, and sometimes counties, can act to nullify federal law.
  • States and counties are authorized to use militia for armed resistance.

*Adapted from American Christians, Tyranny, and Resistance

No matter which party has been in charge, the federal government has continued to grow into a beast-like system that threatens our God-given rights at every turn. Doing nothing to stop this is no longer an option. It’s time to put on the full armor of God in order to withstand the devil’s schemes!

If you are reading this, chances are you care a great deal about what is happening in the US or wherever you may live, as the whole world is topsy-turvy. Nevertheless, there is still hope. Regarding our role in pursuing this hope, I’ll repeat what I’ve stated in a previous article:

We all have a part to play in wresting control from those who seek to do us harm. Whether it is through writing, speaking, creating, organizing, planning, inventing, or teaching, all of us have been gifted in some area to contribute to defeating this beast seeking to devour us. Now is the time to use whatever talents and gifts you have to advance the cause of freedom and truth. Be a light in the midst of all this darkness. If your message is not received by some, keep it moving and don’t waste time and energy arguing with fools. Pay attention to what’s happening, but don’t let it consume you. Find time to do things you enjoy despite the dire conditions. Connect with God and people who have your best interests in mind. Remember, nothing is impossible to them that believe! This war can be won by those who are courageous, committed, steadfast, and willing to make sacrifices to see that the enemies of God, humanity, and nature are all exposed and brought to justice.”

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