Committee adopts amendments and continues surveillance‑technology ordinance for more public review

The Rules Committee on April 22 adopted amendments to a proposed ordinance that would require city departments to obtain Board‑approved surveillance‑technology policies and submit surveillance impact reports before requesting funds or procuring surveillance equipment. After adopting the amendments, the committee continued the item to the May 6 Rules Committee meeting to give the public additional time to review the updated language.

Sponsor Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the changes had been revised after prior meetings and that language creating a misdemeanor penalty had been removed after departmental concerns. Peskin emphasized the ordinance’s use‑policy requirement and noted added language clarifying, "nothing in this chapter 19B shall be construed to prohibit, restrict, or interfere with receipt by a city department of information gathered by a non‑city entity or individual from surveillance technology," intended to preserve departments’ ability to receive third‑party footage for investigations.

Public commenters were split. Stop Crime SF (Alice Xavier) urged that surveillance tools be preserved for public safety and said community events and policing benefit from access to camera technology. Civil‑liberties advocates including Frank Noto urged caution and asked the Board to avoid an effective ban on camera sources before proper policies were in place. The Department of Human Resources raised concerns about how limits might affect labor and EEO investigations; Peskin and supporters said the ordinance includes exemptions (SFO/TSA, body‑worn cameras) and allows departments up to 90‑day extensions while drafting use policies, though repeated extensions could be curtailed.

The committee approved Peskin’s amendments and agreed to return the item on May 6 to allow more public review and finalize the ordinance language.