Open/Opaque is grounded in the work of critical information studies scholars who interrogate the role of data, archives, and records in our society. In particular, this project is inspired by archival studies scholars like Tonia Sutherland and Jarrett Drake who point to the fundamental flaws in police records and data, what Sutherland calls "the carceral archive." Open/Opaque is also informed by abolitionist organizers and the resources they create, which compel us to question the creation of new police initiatives that ultimately keep control of information in the hands of law enforcement. This project is an attempt to take up that call.

Drake, Jarrett M. “Insurgent Citizens: The Manufacture of Police Records in Post-Katrina New Orleans and Its Implications for Human Rights.” Archival Science 14, no. 3–4 (October 2014): 365–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-014-9224-2.
Public Policy Institute of California. “Police Use of Force and Misconduct in California.” Accessed March 9, 2022. https://www.ppic.org/publication/police-use-of-force-and-misconduct-in-california/.
Solis, Gabriel Daniel. “Documenting State Violence: (Symbolic) Annihilation & Archives of Survival.” KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 2 (November 29, 2018): 7. https://doi.org/10.5334/kula.28.
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. "Automating Banishment: The Surveillance and Policing of Looted Land." Accessed March 9, 2022. https://automatingbanishment.org/
Sutherland, Tonia. “The Carceral Archive: Documentary Records, Narrative Construction, and Predictive Risk Assessment.” Journal of Cultural Analytics, 2019. https://doi.org/10.22148/16.039.
Trace, Ciaran B. “What Is Recorded Is Never Simply ‘What Happened’: Record Keeping in Modern Organizational Culture.” Archival Science 2, no. 1–2 (March 2002): 137–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02435634.
Wood, Stacy E. “Police Body Cameras and Professional Responsibility: Public Records and Private Evidence.” Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture 46, no. 1 (April 2017): 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1515/pdtc-2016-0030.

Sources & further reading