The last decade of policing in hamilton, ontario has seen a pretty intense increase in the amount of resources police have invested in to surveilling Indigenous people and movements, anarchists, organizers & projects that in some way pose a threat to the state. In particular, their recent investment in software for cracking encryption and social media monitoring and predictive policing software, as discovered via their procurement reports.
While those of us who oppose or challenge state authority tend to learn these stories through internal discussions or re-tellings (our own strange urban legends) it’s not often we see proof of our suspicions – or collectivize that information as a way to decentralize and share the knowledge outside of our inner circles.
This project is meant to shine a little light on the hamilton (ontario) police and some of their known surveillance operations and capacities.
Gathered through media reports, police media, collective stories, and procurement reports this project is a concerted effort to collect and make available reports of surveillance, technology, infiltration, and future tendencies or possibilities – for all those organizing & mobilizing to see and consider.
In no way is it meant to be understood as complete – for example we don’t include stories on repression – but it can serve as an accessible starting point to understand the history, patterns, and surveillance technology HPS hold.
It’s also certainly not meant to dissuade people from getting out there to do shit: Go fuck shit up – just try to do it safely.
If you have information you believe belongs on this page, send it to: fuckhps [at] riseup [dot] net