- How did you discover Project NOLA?
I learned about Project NOLA in the news. Bryan Lagarde, the owner of Project NOLA, loves the media – he even has a TV show “Real Time Crime”. The media coverage was inconsistent with my experience as a past crime victim. I’ve been mugged. I’ve had property stolen. I’ve always had video and at the time police didn’t do anything with it. NOPD is notoriously terrible and New Orleans is a tech backwater. It was unimaginable to me that NOPD was solving property crimes that most departments would ignore using technology unavailable anywhere else. The more I read, the more questions I had. Four years later, I’m still digging.
- What is my problem with Project NOLA?
In most cases, the City of New Orleans (including NOPD), is banned from using facial recognition technology (FRT) and mass surveillance. In all cases, NOPD is required to request approval and report their use of FRT. NOPD’s reports to the City Council and response to my public records requests were inconsistent with dozens of articles, local news segments, and Bryan Lagarde’s TV show “Real Time Crime”. NOPD was either lying or incompetent.
- What am I trying to accomplish? What do I want?
I want to be able to leave my home without a private unregulated spy network tracking my every movement, logging who I interact with, or recording my most embarrassing moments. If you point enough cameras at anyone, the police can find a crime. This technology is illegal in New Orleans. NOPD needs to follow the law.
- What’s the solution?
I want to say that the solution is accountability. I am a security engineer. I’m not opposed to well regulated security. Project NOLA is only possible because businesses had unmet security needs. It is possible to build technical controls that make abuse nearly impossible. I’ve built them. The problem is that we’re in terrible times. Secret police are executing Americans in the street. Technical controls can’t restrain corrupt institutions. New Orleans can’t trust NOPD to report their time without biometrics. We can’t trust NOPD with our privacy.
- What stands out as problematic?
Project NOLA exists specifically to operate outside City Ordinances — it is structurally designed to avoid accountability — and it shows. There is no training or certification for officers using the system. Accounts are shared. Passwords are pathetic. Sensitive crime videos are stored on publicly accessible Google Drive folders. No one can audit what faces are in the system or how they’re being used. Bryan Lagarde imagines himself as Batman saving Gotham. Unfortunately, Project NOLA is just a cheap Temu ripoff.
- Can you explain what you’ve been doing in the last few months?
My goal is to impose cost. FRT and mass surveillance are illegal in New Orleans. I want to make it as difficult as possible for NOPD to continue to misuse Project NOLA. I am going to review every email, text, and social media post. If there is illegal use of FRT, I’m going to file a NOPD PIB complaint and post it online. Each complaint is specific targeted abuse that’s easy to understand and easy to process. In January 2026, I filed over 70 complaints. I have hundreds of pages to still work through for most of 2025. On December 1st, I asked for November’s records. On January 1st, I asked for December records. When the City provides those records, I’ll process them. Each complaint triggers an investigation. PIB will pull the emails, interview the officer, and make a determination if law or NOPD policy was violated. I want to make it really hard for investigators to sign off that no abuse occurred.
Second, I’m doing my best to publicize the Orwellian surveillance in New Orleans. I’m regularly blogging about the worst abuses, and I’m speaking at various security conferences to warn others about what’s coming to cities across the country. I’m building alliances. Every conference talk is another opportunity for others to fight back before the infrastructure is installed.
I’m going to keep kicking Project NOLA until morale improves.
- How does this apply to other cities?
New Orleans is the first US city with a mass surveillance spy network tracking faces for a police department. But this technology is a cancer metastasizing across America. Police love it. Before mass surveillance with FRT, police had to obtain warrants to track suspects. Now everyone is tracked. Everywhere you go, where you work, who you associate with, and your most embarrassing moments are logged to the police. If you’re already in custody, police can retroactively search to find crimes you or your loved ones committed so that they have leverage over you. This technology is utterly Orwellian.
We also know Project NOLA is expanding. It is already believed to be in:
- Biloxi, MS
- Hattiesburg, MS
- Natchez, MS
- New Castle, PA
- Woodbury, NJ
Additionally we know other vendors are eager to provide similar services. ICE is using a new mobile app to scan the faces of whoever they interact with, and police bodycam maker Axon has begun deploying FRT. NOPD uses Axon and has used body cam footage in Project NOLA.
- How can I help?
Get involved. The best way to block mass surveillance is through legislation. Call your city council member, your state legislators, and your Congressmembers. If you think your police department is using mass surveillance or FRT in your community, file a public records request. We can help. Reach out to projectmayhem@insomniac.tech
