The Santa Cruz City Council in California has unanimously passed an ordinance permanently banning predictive policing and prohibiting the city from using facial recognition software. Having launched a pilot project in 2011 as an early adopter of the technology, Santa Cruz is the first city in the United States to ban predictive policing. The software uses algorithms to direct patrols to locations identified as high-crime based on victim reports, which critics argue replicates racial bias against Black and brown communities. The Santa Cruz Police Department had previously placed a moratorium on the practice in 2017 when Andy Mills became police chief. Chief Mills stated that the policy was used purely for enforcement rather than working with community members to solve problems, leading to unavoidable conflicts.

Background: Predictive Policing and Risk Scoring

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