<p>Local security authorities are using innovative technologies, including drones, CCTV, biometric sensors and predictive algorithmic tools, to protect their communities. While their use is becoming more common in major European cities and other urban contexts, many new ethical, legal and social issues are also emerging. Due to the complexity of the concepts and technology involved, there is a significant risk that local authorities may use these innovative technologies in an undemocratic way, which could have an adverse effect on citizens’ civil rights and liberties. This paper aims to address the conceptual and applied gaps associated with using innovative technologies to enhance urban security, considering the ethical, legal and social implications. This objective has been achieved by developing an open-source self-assessment tool that allows local security authorities to analyse their technology use cases and make critical decisions. The democratic use of innovative technologies for urban security (DUTUS) is defined as a set of practices that meet the following three interrelated requirements simultaneously: (1) legal compliance, (2) ethical commitment, and (3) positive social impact. Finally, the paper identifies some of the key structural, methodological and practical challenges of the tool, and how these can be addressed by end users.</p>