City police car at night. Gemma Evans on Unsplash.

SAFELab

Video Library

SAFELab
Video Library

Scroll below to watch videos of Desmond Upton Patton and SAFELab colleagues give presentations, host conversations, and have their work featured in the media.

Presentations

Cartoon-style image of three people in orange prison jumpsuits with the social media icons of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram across the screen — During The National Academies' meeting "Motivating Data Science Education through Social Good", Desmond Upton Patton, Ph.D., explores the question of whether AI can reduce gang violence or cause more harm.

Desmond Upton Patton, Ph.D. in office, looking at computer — Desmond Patton, Ph.D. shares how social media research and the analysis of the online presence of gang-involved youth can help to understand and reduce the violence that occurs.

Desmond Upton Patton, Ph.D. giving presentation on community violence and social media — Using Natural Language Processing and Qualitative Analysis to Intervene in Gang Violence: A presentation by Desmond Patton, Ph.D.

Desmond Upton Patton, Ph.D. giving TED Talk — Dr. Desmond Patton's TEDxTalk: "They are Children: How Posts on Social Media Lead to Gang Violence."

Dr. Desmond Patton being introduced at Justice Codes Symposium — Desmond Patton, Ph.D. presents at the Justice Codes Symposium at John Jay College.

Slide showing statistics stating that Chicago had 678 homicides in 2017, and statistics about social media use (92% online daily, 71% use more than one social networking site, 45% of Black teens use Twitter). — Dr. Desmond Patton and Dr. Kathy McKeown present "Violence on the Digital Street" at Harvard Center for Research on Computation and Society Seminar.

Conversations

Two people sitting in chairs in front of a black background. One is speaking into a microphone while the other looks at the speaker. — #UMBlackout: Reflections on the Role of Black Twitter Activism in Counternarrative Truth-telling, with Desmond Upton Patton, Ph.D. and Zellie Imani

Harlem resident being interviewed — Escaping the Labels: Harlem NeON Documentary explores the issues around gangs and what motivates people to join them.

Panelists at NYC Media Lab Summit '19 Innovation Panel. — A group of panelists, including Dr. Desmond Patton, discuss what trends will dominate media and technology by 2030 and how those trends will affect our lives.

Dr. Desmond Patton speaks at Rutgers Police Institute roundtable. — Rutgers Police Institute and the Brennan Center bring together 20-25 experts from varying industries to discuss social media.

Newscasts

Black and white decorative drawing of a cartoon social media screen — VICE News reports on how hashtags and emojis are inspiring real-life gun violence.

Outreach workers canvassing the streets of a Chicago neighborhood — Newsy reports on Dr. Desmond Patton's aim to interpret social media posts made by gang-involved youth and create an algorithm that anticipates online threats related to gang violence.

Live count of online webcast attendees — This Retro Report from the New York Times examines instances of digital violence and whether digital bystanders have the responsibility to intervene.

NYPD officers standing near crime scene — Police utilize social media surveillance to investigate instances of criminal activity, but each community's specific use of language online opens itself to misinterpretation from these forces.