404 미디어의 조사에 따르면 미국 국경순찰대가 '예측 정보 표적화 팀(PITT)'이라는 비밀 예측 경찰활동 부대를 운영하며, 시민들의 금융거래와 각종 데이터를 분석해 구체적 혐의 없이 검문할 대상을 선정하고 있습니다. 실제로 몬태나주를 운행하던 한 남성이 번호판 가림이라는 명분으로 검문당해 음주운전 및 대마 소지 혐의로 기소됐으나, 실제로는 국경순찰대 PITT가 교통단속을 지시한 것이었음이 드러났습니다. 이는 '평행 구성(parallel construction)'을 통해 실제 단속 근거를 은폐하는 것으로, 정당한 영장 기준 없는 감시·단속이 가능하다는 점에서 심각한 인권 우려를 낳고 있습니다.
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404 미디어의 조사 결과, 미국 국경순찰대가 비밀스럽게 운영하는 예측 경찰활동(predictive policing) 부대가 미국 시민들의 금융 활동과 기타 데이터를 분석한 뒤, 그 정보를 지방 경찰에 전달하고 있습니다. 그러면 지방 경찰은 구체적인 범죄 혐의가 없지만 정부가 수색해볼 가치가 있다고 판단한 사람들을 차량 검문으로 세우고 있습니다. 404 미디어가 이번에 처음으로 밝히는 이 부대의 이름은 '예측 정보 표적화 팀(Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams, PITT)'입니다. 한 사례에서 PITT는 몬타나주를 횡단하던 한 남성의 금융 활동을 분석했고, 지방 당국은 번호판이 가려져 있다는 구실로 그를 세운 뒤 음주운전 혐의로 기소했습니다. 404 미디어는 캐나다 국경을 관할하는 워싱턴주 스포케인 섹터와 멕시코 국경을 관할하는 텍사스주 라레도 섹터에서 각각 PITT를 확인했습니다. 이번 발견은 작년 미국통신(AP)의 조사에 무게를 더하는 것입니다. AP 조사는 국경순찰대가 광범위한 예측 경찰활동 프로그램의 일환으로 자동 번호판 인식 장치(ALPR)를 사용하고 있다고 밝혔습니다.민주기술센터(Center For Democracy & Technology)의 보안·감시 프로젝트 부소장 제이크 라페루크는 404 미디어에 이메일로 "결론적으로, 진정한 상당한 이유(probable cause)는 인위적으로 만들어낼 수 없다"고 말했습니다. 그는 국경순찰대가 "평행 구성(parallel construction)을 이용해 차량 단속의 실제 이유를 비밀에 부치고 있는 것으로 보인다. 이런 시스템을 의미 있게 검토하고 평가할 수 없다면 신뢰할 수 없다"고 덧붙였습니다.💡 국토안보부(DHS)에 재직 중이신가요? 이 예측 경찰활동 팀에 대해 알고 계신 내용이 있다면 연락을 부탁드립니다. 업무용 기기가 아닌 개인 기기에서 Signal(joseph.404)로 안전하게 메시지를 보내거나 joseph@404media.co로 이메일을 보내주시기 바랍니다.예측 경찰활동은 경찰서와 연방 기관이 점점 더 활용하고 있는 매우 논란이 많은 관행입니다. 이는 범죄를 저질렀을 수 있는 사람을, 현재는 그 증거가 전혀 없는 상황에서 찾아내는 것을 목표로 합니다. 대체로 법 집행기관은 개인의 이동 경로, 특정 시간대의 위치, 통행 도로 같은 데이터를 분석한 뒤, 차량을 세우기 위한 다른 구실을 만들거나 찾아냅니다.경찰 보고서와 404 미디어가 진행한 올슨과의 인터뷰에 따르면, 5월 어느 날 밤 9시 30분경 카일 윌리엄 올슨은 검은 셰보레 SUV를 몰고 주간고속도로 90번을 달리고 있었으며, 뒷좌석에는 반려견 더키가 타고 있었습니다. 차량에는 대마 식품(edible), 대마 삽목, 부탄 해시 오일이 있었습니다. 그는 404 미디어에 캘리포니아의 면허 있는 대마 농장에서 일하며 그곳에서 대마를 수령해 위스콘신 집으로 운반하고 있었다고 말했습니다.올슨은 몬타나 주립고속도로 순찰대의 제임스 벡 경사가 동료와 함께 순찰차에 앉아 있는 곳을 지나쳤습니다. 경찰 보고서에 따르면 올슨이 지나갈 때 벡은 차량 번호판이 색조 필름 커버와 러기지 랙에 가려져 있다고 판단했습니다. 벡은 차를 빼내어 올슨을 따라잡아 세웠습니다. 바디캠 영상에 따르면, 벡은 조수석 창가에 다가가 인사를 나눈 뒤 "큰 일은 아니다"라고 말했습니다. 벡은 올슨의 번호판이 "조금 가려져 있다"며 "그게 당신을 세운 이유라는 걸 알아달라"고 말했습니다. 결국 경찰들은 올슨에게 차에서 내리도록 요구했고, 혈액 검사를 실시한 뒤 음주운전 혐의로 기소했습니다. 당국은 이후 차량에서 발견된 대마 때문에 올슨을 유통 목적 소지 혐의로 추가 기소했다고 올슨은 404 미디어에 말했습니다.하지만 그것이 올슨을 세운 진짜 이유는 아니었습니다. 사건 증거개시 과정에서 올슨은 국경순찰대가 자신의 교통 단속을 주도했음을 설명하는 국토안보부(DHS) 문서를 받았습니다. 국경순찰대 요원 매튜 펠프스가 작성한 이 문서에는 펠프스가 '스포케인 섹터 국경순찰대 표적화·정보부(TID) — 예측 정보 표적화 팀(PITT)'에 배속되어 있다고 적혀 있었습니다. 올슨은 이 문서를 404 미디어와 공유했습니다. 펠프스는 PITT에서의 역할과 관련해 자신이 '법 집행' 관련 정보를 검토한다고 작성했습니다.
Border Patrol is running secretive predictive policing units that analyze Americans’ financial activity and other data, then feed that intelligence to local police who pull people over who are not suspected of any specific crime, but which the government thinks may be worth searching, 404 Media has found. The units, the name of which 404 Media is revealing here for the first time, are called Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT). In one case, a PITT analyzed the financial activity of a man who was driving across Montana, and local authorities stopped him under the pretense of an obstructed license plate and charged him with a DUI. 404 Media identified one PITT in the Spokane Sector, Washington, which polices the U.S. border with Canada, and another in the Laredo Sector, Texas, which polices the border with Mexico. The findings add to an Associated Press investigation from last year which found Border Patrol was using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) as part of the same wide-spanning predictive policing program. “The bottom line is genuine probable cause cannot be synthetically generated,” Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center For Democracy & Technology, told 404 Media in an email. Here Border Patrol seems to be “using parallel construction to cloak the reason behind its car stops in secrecy. If we can't meaningfully review and evaluate these systems, we can't trust them,” he added. 💡 Do you work at DHS? Do you know anything else about these predictive policing teams? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co. Predictive policing is a highly controversial practice that police departments and federal agencies are increasingly turning to. The practice is designed to find people who may have committed crimes, but at the moment, no evidence of them doing so exists. Broadly, law enforcement may analyze data — such as a person's movements, where they are at a certain time, or the roads they drive — then create or find another pretense to pull them over. At around 9:30pm one night in May, Kyle William Olson was driving his black Chevy SUV on Interstate 90, with his dog Ducky in the backseat, according to police reports and an interview Olson gave to 404 Media. In Olson’s vehicle were marijuana edibles, marijuana cuttings, and butane hash oil. He works on a licensed cannabis farm in California, where he had picked up the weed, and was transporting it home to Wisconsin, he told 404 Media. Olson drove past Sergeant James Beck of the Montana Highway Patrol who was sitting in his police car along with a colleague. When Olson passed, Beck noticed the vehicle’s license plate was obstructed by what he described as a tinted cover and the luggage holder, according to a police report. Beck pulled out, caught up to Olson, and pulled him over. “Nothing major,” Beck said once he approached the passenger side window and exchanged pleasantries with Olson, according to bodycam footage. Beck said Olson’s license plate was “a little bit obstructed.” “Just so you know, that’s our reason for stopping you,” Beck said. In the end, the officers demanded Olson step out of the vehicle, they tested his blood and charged him with a DUI. Authorities later charged Olson with possession with intent to distribute because of the marijuana in his vehicle, Olson told 404 Media. But that wasn’t the real reason for stopping Olson. During discovery in his case, Olson was provided a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document that explained how Border Patrol instigated his traffic stop. Written by Border Patrol Agent Matthew Phelps, the document said Phelps was assigned to the “Spokane Sector Border Patrol Targeting & Intelligence Division (TID) — Predictive Intelligence Targeting Team (PITT).” Olson shared the document with 404 Media. In his role at the PITT, Phelps wrote he reviews “law enforcement-sensitive databases” to develop intelligence before handing over information to local law enforcement. That intelligence specifically involves reviewing Americans’ financial activity, the document says. In Olson’s case, Phelps says he observed, “information contained within law enforcement-sensitive systems suggesting financial activity patterns commonly associated with illicit narcotics activity.” The document says Phelps also looked at Olson’s prior arrest and criminal history. Phelps wrote he then sent over what he found to Sergeant Beck, to “support general interdiction efforts.” Phelps says in the document that his intelligence was not the “sole basis” for the stop. In his own report detailing the stop, Sergeant Beck wrote, “It was relayed to me by U.S. Border Patrol targeting analyst Matthew Phelps that he had identified a vehicle that had indicators of possible narcotics trafficking.” Beck then pulled over Olson for the obstructed license plate. The DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows that Border Patrol is analyzing the financial activity of Americans to find people to pull over. The Associated Press’s investigation found the predictive policing program is also heavily using ALPRs to track potential targets’ movements. It is not clear how exactly Border Patrol is monitoring Americans’ financial activity. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declined to answer what financial activity the agency was monitoring, and whether it obtained a warrant or not. A CBP spokesperson told 404 Media in an email: “U.S. Border Patrol uses intelligence-informed analysis and planning to support national security operations, allocate resources, and help identify potential threats and bad actors to public safety. These efforts are conducted consistent with applicable law, policy, privacy protections, and oversight requirements.” “For operational security reasons, we do not discuss specific analytical methods, data sources, targeting criteria, investigative techniques, system capabilities, or deployment details. Public disclosure of such information could compromise law enforcement operations and investigations as well as creating safety risks for agents and the public,” the statement added. Border Patrol’s predictive policing program has led to innocent people being pulled over and questioned. In the case of Alek Schott, who was pulled over on Interstate 35 by a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy in 2022, authorities claimed he had drifted between lanes and then tore apart his vehicle. They found nothing, according to the Institute for Justice, which represented Schott . In the docket for that case is a copy of conversations between law enforcement officials, including Border Patrol agents. Putting one of those participant’s phone numbers into WhatsApp reveals a profile picture of a law enforcement patch. A pawn with wings sits in the center, surrounded by lightning bolts. The patch reads, “Laredo Sector Tech Ops PITT,” indicating there is also a Predictive Intelligence Targeting Team in the Laredo Sector. Border Patrol operates 20 sectors according to CBP’s website. CBP declined to answer whether any of these other sectors also have Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams. “The government’s increasing use of mass surveillance — whether that surveillance comes via ALPRs, financial records, or the like — coupled with predictive policing is a recipe for tyranny,” Rob Frommer, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, told 404 Media. “We fought a revolution for the idea that we are citizens, not subjects. Yet schemes like CBP’s Predictive Intelligence Targeting Team treat all Americans as if they are potential suspects. This is not just wrong, it’s unconstitutional, and IJ will keep pushing courts and Congress to end this attack on Americans’ security.” About the author Joseph is an award-winning investigative journalist focused on generating impact. His work has triggered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fines, shut down tech com