E-carceration, short for electronic incarceration, is when authorities use surveillance technology like ankle monitors, cameras, and GPS to track and control people in their own communities.
While e-carceration might get some people out from behind bars, the same technology makes it easier to monitor and punish more people overall, and Black, brown, and immigrant communities have become the biggest targets. Having fewer people behind bars, but giving authorities more power to punish Black, brown, and immigrant communities is not a just solution to the problems of mass incarceration.
To help communities understand how e-carceration works and the consequences for Black, brown, and immigrant communities, CUP teamed up with Freedom to Thrive and designers Shreyas R Krishnan and Kruttika Susarla to create Not On Our Watch! The foldout poster explains and illustrates the concept of “e-carceration” and how it perpetuates a system of mass surveillance of communities of color. Available in English and Spanish, Not On Our Watch also highlights community actions that have been taken across the country to offer alternatives to our current systems of incarceration and surveillance.