Abstract

This article examines the “aesthetic” and “prescient” turn in the surveillant assemblage and the various ways in which risk technologies in local law enforcement are reshaping the post hoc traditions of the criminal justice system. The rise of predictive policing and crime prevention software illustrate not only how the world of risk management solutions for public security is shifting from sovereign borders to inner-city streets but also how the practices of authorization are allowing software systems to become proxy forms of sovereign power. The article also examines how corporate strategies and law enforcement initiatives align themselves through media, connectivity, and consumer-oriented opt-in strategies that endeavor to “mold” and “deputize” ordinary individuals into obedient and patriotic citizens.