Spencer Reynolds

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Articles

A Start for AI Transparency at DHS with Room to Grow

Jan 22, 2025 | justsecurity.org | Rachel Levinson-Waldman |Spencer Reynolds

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an inventory of DHS systems that incorporate AI, covering systems that are active, in development, and sunsetted. The DHS AI inventory provides information about every one of its 158 active AI use cases, representing a significant achievement compared to the now-archived DHS 2023 inventory, which contained just 67 use cases.
A Start for AI Transparency at DHS with Room to Grow

Jan 22, 2025 | brennancenter.org | Rachel Levinson-Waldman |Spencer Reynolds

View the entire Artificial Intelligence and National Security collection This article first appeared in Just Security. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an inventory of DHS systems that incorporate AI, covering systems that are active, in development, and sunsetted.
If a Resistance Emerges This Time, This Is the Greatest Threat to It

Dec 6, 2024 | slate.com | Spencer Reynolds

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to implement a slate of controversial policies in his second term, including military strikes on Mexican drug cartels, restrictions on abortion pills, a new “Muslim ban,” immigration raids, and mass deportations. Any one of these moves is likely to bring tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets.
Inside the Federal Protective Service, Homeland Security’s Domestic Police Force

Oct 8, 2024 | brennancenter.org | Spencer Reynolds

Harmful Reliance on Other Agencies At times, FPS has called on border and security forces, turning them into urban cops. Perhaps FPS’s most controversial power is cross-designation, its section 1315 authority to absorb other DHS law enforcement officers into its ranks. DHS relied on this authority during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2015, and its power was on full display during DHS’s 2020 operations to counter racial justice protests in Portland.
Internal Atlanta Police Records Reveal Monitoring of ‘Cop City’ Opponents’ Political Activity

Jul 30, 2024 | brennancenter.org | Spencer Reynolds |Jose Gutierrez |José Gutiérrez

Over 2,300 pages of internal intelligence reports and emails demonstrate how broadly the Atlanta Police Department has monitored residents engaged in ordinary activities used by political groups of all stripes. Atlanta law enforcement’s social media surveillance targeted opponents of the construction of a police training facility that activists call “Cop City.” The Brennan Center obtained the documents, available here, through a public records act request.
As DHS Implements New AI Technologies, It Must Overcome Old Shortcomings

May 22, 2024 | brennancenter.org | Faiza Patel |Spencer Reynolds

This article first appeared at Just Security. On May 22, the House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should use artificial intelligence (AI) to “defend and secure the homeland.” The topic is fitting: DHS has promised aggressive adoption of AI and other emerging technologies.
As DHS Implements New AI Technologies, It Must Overcome Old Shortcomings

May 21, 2024 | justsecurity.org | Spencer Reynolds |Faiza Patel

On May 22, the House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should use artificial intelligence (AI) to “defend and secure the homeland.” The topic is fitting: DHS has promised aggressive adoption of AI and other emerging technologies.
Homeland Security’s broken terrorist prevention program needs to end

Mar 20, 2024 | thehill.com | Spencer Reynolds

For nearly a decade, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded annual grants to government and local community groups working to “prevent individuals from radicalizing to violence.” And for nearly a decade, the Department has failed to measure the impact of these “terrorism prevention” efforts, let alone show that they work.
Brennan Center Announces Election of Kimberley Harris and Christine Varney as New Co-Chairs

Jan 29, 2024 | brennancenter.org | Joanna Zdanys |Gabriella Sanchez |Alice Clapman |Spencer Reynolds

Today the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law announced that Kimberley D. Harris and Christine A. Varney have been elected Co-Chairs of the Center’s Board of Directors. Kimberley D. Harris is Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation and General Counsel of NBCUniversal. In this role, Harris oversees all international government and regulatory affairs for Comcast, supporting the company’s businesses worldwide.
Recent NDAA Reforms Not Likely to Fix Key DHS Intelligence Abuses

Jan 17, 2024 | justsecurity.org | Spencer Reynolds

In December, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains provisions regulating certain troubling intelligence activities of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has for years engaged in abusive domestic intelligence practices targeting Americans’ political views and broadly painting certain groups of Americans as terrorists.