Join the campaign to Take Community Control Over Police Surveillance.
Legislative Efforts Aim to Introduce Transparency and Accountability, and Maximize Community Influence over Decisions Regarding the Purchase and Use of Police Surveillance Tools
Local officials in Hattiesburg, Mississippi announced today that they are launching legislative efforts to bring transparency to the acquisition and use of local police surveillance technologies for the first time. The measures, which are influenced by a set of guiding principles released by a diverse coalition of 17 national organizations today, include mandating city council approval and a public hearing process that maximizes community input into surveillance technology decisions.
“The use of surveillance by local police has been spreading unchecked across the country without regard for the communities that they purport to serve,” said Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi. “Today, the city of Hattiesburg is taking action to address the disparate impact, financial burden, and threats to civil rights and liberties posed by invasive surveillance technologies. We applaud Councilman Deborah Delgado for taking the lead on this initiative, and it is our hope that the message will spread to other communities throughout the state that secret surveillance is unacceptable.”
Hattiesburg Ward 2 Councilwoman Deborah D. Delgado will make the proposal for local surveillance technology at the October 4 council meeting. The bill empowers the local community to have meaningful input into if and how surveillance technologies are funded, acquired, and used by local law enforcement. A vote on the bill is expected at the following city council meeting.
“Governments have used surveillance throughout history to suppress free speech, intimidate leaders of political movements, and track individuals and communities. Such technologies are disproportionately used to target communities of color and low income communities,” said Ms. Delgado. “This bill gives voice to the public to empower them to have a stronger role in determining if and how surveillance technologies are used in their communities. I look forward to the full city council approving the measure on behalf of the citizens of Hattiesburg.”
“The Forrest County NAACP Branch is happy to be a part of this campaign, and we urge the Hattiesburg City Council to pass the measure,” said Clarence Magee, President of the Forrest County NAACP Branch. “We know how common it is for law enforcement to secretly spy on the public. It is important that the community has a seat at the policy table to ensure that our civil rights are not being violated.”
The first wave of cities announcing legislative efforts today are:
Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Madison, Wisconsin; Miami Beach, Florida; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Muskegon, Michigan; New York, New York; Palo Alto, California; Pensacola, Florida; Richmond, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; and Washington, D.C.
In the rare cases where local police data has been available to the public — in cities like Baltimore, Maryland; Oakland, California; and Lansing, Michigan — the data has shown a disproportionate use of surveillance technologies in communities of color and low-income areas. The partner organizations have created a set of guiding principles to assist community groups in changing surveillance practices. The principles aim to promote transparency, democratic decision making, and community empowerment with respect to if and how surveillance technologies are funded, acquired, and used.
The guiding principles behind this surge of legislative action, which is expected to be replicated in an increasing number of cities across the nation, are as follows:
- Surveillance technologies should not be funded, acquired, or used without express and specific city council approval.
- Local communities should play a significant and meaningful role in determining if and how surveillance technologies are funded, acquired, or used.
- The process for considering the use of surveillance technologies should be transparent and well-informed.
- The use of surveillance technologies should not be approved generally; approvals, if provided, should be for specific technologies and specific, limited uses.
- Surveillance technologies should not be funded, acquired, or used without addressing their potential impact on civil rights and civil liberties.
- Surveillance technologies should not be funded, acquired, or used without considering their financial impact.
- To verify legal compliance, surveillance technology use and deployment data should be reported publicly on an annual basis.
- City council approval should be required for all surveillance technologies and uses; there should be no “grandfathering” for technologies currently in use.
This locally-led, multi-city effort was developed in partnership with 17 highly-diverse national partner organizations:
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Bill of Rights Defense Committee/Defending Dissent Foundation; Campaign Zero; Center for Democracy & Technology; Center for Popular Democracy; Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR); Crypto Harlem; Demand Progress; Electronic Frontier Foundation; Fight for the Future; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Million Hoodies Movement for Justice; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); National Network of Arab American Communities; Restore the Fourth; South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT); and Tenth Amendment Center.
Additional resources and information can be found here: www.communityCTRL.com
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