SF Supes Approve Measure Giving Police Access to Private Security Cameras

Police in San Francisco will have access to security cameras not owned by the city to aid in their efforts to fight crime.

The Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday by a 7-4 vote an ordinance that, as described in a news release from Mayor London Breed, "will clarify and explicitly authorize law enforcement to temporarily use non-city owned cameras to respond to the challenges presented by organized criminal activity, homicides, gun violence, officer misconduct, among other crimes, while strengthening critical safeguards and oversight to prevent misuse."

The announcement noted that the ordinance has been crafted over several months by the mayor's office and Supervisor Aaron Peskin while working closely with the San Francisco Police Department.

Before the board's vote, more than two dozen organizations on Tuesday called on supervisors to reject the ordinance, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

The ACLU said the ordinance "permits a level of surveillance unprecedented in city history, converting personal doorbell cameras and CCTVs into devices that would let the police place entire neighborhood blocks under preemptive monitoring and spy on constitutionally protected speech."

The San Francisco Police Department sent out a statement in support following the board's vote.

"This policy reaffirms our commitment to engage in transparent, and responsive policing while protecting the rights of everyone that makes up the diverse community we serve," police said.

According to the mayor's office, the new policy would allow law enforcement to request temporary access for no longer than 24 hours to non-city owned cameras to view real-time activity only during the following circumstances:

• In situations that involve imminent danger of death or imminent danger of serious physical injury;
• During significant events with public safety concerns for the sole purpose of deployment or placement of personnel; or
• To further specific investigations into criminal activity.

This includes, according to the mayor's announcement, "security cameras owned by third parties that do not have any contractual or other obligation to share footage with law enforcement that have been installed by non-city owners or operators outside of small businesses, residential buildings, and other commercial buildings."

The ordinance would overturn local laws that generally bar law enforcement from accessing live video footage from non-city owned cameras in any situation other than situations that involve imminent danger of death or serious physical injury.

The mayor's announcement provided assurances that the new ordinance contains significant safeguards, including "restrictions on how the cameras can be used; how long they can be used; rules for data retention as well as data disposal; continuing the bar against the use of facial recognition technology; barring any live monitoring inside residential dwellings; barring any live feed during First Amendment activities for reasons outside of redeployment needs; and mandatory training before any technology can be used by any authorized individual."