This book investigates how the integration of big data and predictive analytics into law enforcement practices alters the nature of policing, discretion, and social control. Sarah Brayne, an assistant professor of sociology, utilizes extensive fieldwork and interviews with police departments to examine the shift toward data-driven surveillance. She argues that these technological tools do not merely improve efficiency but fundamentally reshape the relationship between the state and the public, often reinforcing existing social inequalities through algorithmic bias.

Experts in sociology and criminal justice identify this work as a critical examination of the intersection between digital surveillance and institutional power. Readers frequently note the clarity of the prose despite the complex legal and technical subject matter discussed throughout the chapters.