The shocking push to give cops more power and turn San Francisco into the Surveillance State just got another push from our Law and Order Mayor.
London Breed will be placing a measure on the upcoming ballot which would open the doors to more police surveillance of San Francisco citizens. Breed is pandering to fear and paranoia as she continues her Police State crusade.
San Francisco voters must turn back this continuing official assault on its civil rights.
Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 1.18.2022
Mayor London Breed on Tuesday filed a ballot measure that will ask San Franciscans to expand and clarify the circumstances under which police can monitor surveillance cameras in real time, advancing a key element of her plan to crack down on crime in the Tenderloin and citywide.
Saira Hussain, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation — a San Francisco-based nonprofit that focuses on privacy protections — said she believes the proposal was “poorly drafted, and introduces a loophole large enough to render the surveillance technology ordinance meaningless.”
“The ordinance as it stands allows for exigency when there is a danger to life or serious physical harm to a person,” Hussain said. “What the mayor’s proposal tries to do is expand that to the point (that) basically exigency can mean almost anything.”
The measure is twofold: One portion seeks to broaden the instances in which police can access live feeds, adding certain property crimes like organized retail theft, looting and rioting to a list of “critical events” that qualify. Current law, under a 2019 ordinance on that limits city use of surveillance technology, states that only emergencies that involve danger of death or serious injury can bypass an approval process with the Board of Supervisors.
The second portion would allow police camera access in “public safety crisis areas,” which would include spaces known for open-air drug markets or where there has been a documented spike in violent crimes. The measure involves privately owned security cameras placed throughout the city.
“The criminal activity at issue is not victimless,” Breed said in a statement. “We are talking about violent crimes, including property crimes that are being perpetrated more frequently with the use of guns, getaway vehicles, and other weapons that can seriously injure or even kill innocent bystanders.”
The mayor’s ballot measure has already drawn scrutiny from privacy advocates and supporters of the 2019 surveillance technology ordinance.
Lee's Perspective 