For Immediate Release
Civil Rights Groups and Lawmakers Hold Press Conference On POST ACT, Welcome Breaking News That Mayor de Blasio Will Sign NYPD Surveillance Reform Bill
[NEW YORK, NY, 06/17/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), American Civil Liberties Union, Brennan Center for Justice, Empire State Indivisible, Legal Aid Society, National Action Network, National Lawyers Guild, New York Civil Liberties Union, and elected officials held a press conference to urge the New York City Council to pass the Public Oversight Of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act at the scheduled June 18 vote. Advocates say that passing the POST Act will allow lawmakers and the public to understand what surveillance tools the NYPD uses, including tools used to track Black Lives Matter protests.
SEE: POST Act Press Conference Video
https://youtu.be/TeAvw-36O_w
During the press conference, it was reported by multiple outlets that Mayor Bill DeBlasio publicly agreed to sign the POST Act if the City Council passes it.
De Blasio Backs City Council Bill To Uncover NYPD Surveillance Technology
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/06/17/nypd-must-reveal-surveillance-methods-under-city-council-post-act-
“Preventing surveillance helps prevents police violence,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Mass surveillance increases the risk of wrongful arrests at a moment when we see just how dangerous each police encounter can be. As George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other killings have shown: every police encounter can be a matter of life and death. The POST Act is a crucial check on NYPD surveillance on New Yorkers of Color and Muslim communities. For far too long, the NYPD has used federal and private grants to spy on us. The POST Act isn’t the end of surveillance reform, it’s just the first step, but a crucial first step at that.”
“People have been pushed too far to the limit, and they’re tired. We have seen too many of our brothers and sisters who have been victims of police surveillance for far too long,” said New York City Council Member Hon. Vanessa Gibson. “All we’re asking for in the POST Act is a step forward. This is the floor and not the ceiling. This legislation is the foundation, the beginning, not the end for the NYPD to be held accountable. We fundamentally believe that fighting for people’s basic human and civil rights and protecting the public are not mutually exclusive.”
“The NYPD will have to begin disclosing information about the type of surveillance they use on New Yorkers and their communities, critical information that was kept from the public for years,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson “I want to thank my friend and colleague Council Member Vanessa Gibson and the advocates for their leadership on the POST Act, another police reform initiative that the City Council is passing tomorrow.”.
“This vote comes in the wake of weeks of protest,” said Brennan Center for Justice Counsel Ángel Díaz. “New Yorkers from all over the city have taken to the streets and said enough. They want meaningful police accountability, they want oversight that asks where the city spends its money, and if police are the answer to every problem. The POST Act will require police to publish basic information: what tools do you use, what does it collect, how long do you keep it, and who do you share it with? Instead of waiting for the next news scandal, it allows the public and the council to respond in real time, before the next spy tool is deployed. We’re looking forward to the passage of the POST Act and moving toward a world where are communities receive social services, not surveillance.”
“Tomorrow, when the New York City Council votes to adopt the POST Act, the nation’s largest city with the nation’s largest police force will become America’s 14th CCOPS jurisdiction, and it will be a watershed moment for the effort,” said American Civil Liberties Union Policy Counsel Chad Marlow. “Cities that are on the brink of passing CCOPS laws, like Detroit and St. Louis, will take notice of New York’s actions. Cities like Washington, DC, Boston, and Minneapolis, with burgeoning CCOPS efforts underway, will take notice of New York’s actions. That is how momentum for change builds and flourishes. One victory leads to another.”
“The NYPD has lost all trust with New Yorkers, the people they’re sworn to ‘protect and serve,’” said New York Civil Liberties Union Government Relations Strategist Yves Filius. “The NYPD has weaponized public safety to terrorize communities of color by using devices like drones, stingrays, and x-ray vans, just to name a few. It takes great bravery and resolve to change entrenched practices in the face of powerful opposition. So let me first thank the protestors in New York and elsewhere who have made their voices heard. It will need to be one of many steps to come, but every step in the right direction is important, especially now.”
“This bill should have been passed three years ago,” said National Lawyers Guild’s Erica Johnson. “Tragedy shouldn’t have to befall People of Color for change to happen, change that citizens of NYC deserve. We are proud to finally get the POST Act to a point where we are actually able to get it passed but we’re sad that it took this long and that it happened this way. This is only the beginning. This is one piece to keeping not just African -Americans safe but People of Color and LGBT New Yorkers as well. We honor Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Black Trans Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter. Passing the POST Act is a step in bettering human rights not just for African-Americans and People of Color but for all citizens of New York City.”
“Time and time again, my colleagues and I have seen the hide and seek game the NYPD plays with its paperwork, said Legal-Aid Society Digital Forensics Supervising Attorney Jerome Greco. “This is never truer than when it relates to surveillance technology. Our ability to represent our clients, overwhelmingly people of color, is hindered by the clandestine use of surveillance against them, their families, and their communities. We cannot wage a zealous fight in court on their behalf if we do not even know there is something to fight over. The POST Act was important when it was first introduced and now it is crucial. Transparency is a necessary minimum. It is a significant step in the larger fight for police accountability and to protect communities of color, the Muslim community, and the LGBTQ community.”
“There is more work to be done,” said National Action Network Field Director Derek Perkinson. This is just the first step as technology gets more and more advanced and tech is growing at a rapid speed, we have to have safeguards in place to curtail it in some degree. “On behalf of the National Action Network and Reverend Doctor Al Sharpton, we will continue to fight for equality all around, especially with new emerging technology growing by leaps and bounds. We have to stay on the forefront.”
“We know first-hand that secrecy and opacity are two indicators that power is being taken advantage of,” said Empire State Indivisible Co-Lead Organizer Ricky Silver. “Whether it be in our democracy or in our institutions, the simplest way to skirt accountability is to stay hidden. As technology increases and improves, the public will need to be engaged with our officials to find the right balance of public safety and privacy, and our group is committed to staying in this fight. Transparency drives accountability, and this level of transparency in the NYPD's surveillance capabilities is well overdue.”
The POST Act would require the NYPD to post a privacy and use policy for every surveillance system it uses in New York City. Advocates say the POST Act is even more critical given escalating surveillance of protesters. The POST Act is co-sponsored by 37 of the 51 New York City Council members and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. The bill has also been endorsed by the City Council’s Progressive and Black, Latino/a, and Asian Caucuses, the New York Times Editorial Board, and a coalition of more than 100 civil rights and community-based organizations.
SEE: POST Act Overview Website
https://www.postact.org/
San Francisco Banned Facial Recognition. New York Isn’t Even Close.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/opinion/nypd-post-act-surveillance.html
Sign-on letter from 70 organizations supporting the POST Act
https://stopspying.org/post-act-letter
Sign-on letter from 42 organizations supporting the POST Act
https://www.stopspying.org/post-act-letter-may-2020
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
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CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn;
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