How Is Pittsfield Being Surveilled? Councilors Want to Know
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Two ward councilors want to know exactly how Pittsfield residents are being surveilled.
Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham and Ward 7 Councilor Katherine Moody have asked for reports on the surveillance technology Pittsfield uses. Earlier this month, the City Council rejected a $31,000 police drone grant following a broader discussion about surveillance and responsible data storage.
Cunningham asked that the report cover all surveillance technology used by the Pittsfield Police Department, including the drone program, within 30 days. Moody asked that surveillance technology used by police and fire departments, the Department of Public Services, the city, public safety and emergency management agencies, or contractors be disclosed.
During deliberation on Sept. 8, it was revealed that PPD has been piloting a new drone software since the beginning of the year without a policy.
"Police Department personnel confirmed that LiveU real-time video streaming technology has been in operational use for approximately nine months, without a Surveillance Use Policy having been submitted to or approved by this Council as required under Chapter 18½," Cunningham wrote.
"This Council has not received a surveillance technology impact report or use-policy update covering this technology or the Department's drone program."
He added that Chapter 18½ exists to ensure surveillance technology used by Pittsfield is reviewed and approved before deployment, not after the fact, and asked the council to use its oversight powers to "get a full accounting of current use and bring police practices into compliance."
Moody's request includes "any system, device, software, platform, service, or capability used to observe, monitor, record, track, identify, analyze, collect, retain, share, or process information about persons, vehicles, devices, locations, communications, or activities in public or private spaces."
Her petition asks for the name and description of the technology, its purpose and use, who has ownership and access, details about data collection and retention, and several other categories of information.
"This petition is submitted to promote transparency, public accountability, informed Council oversight, and public confidence regarding the City's acquisition and use of surveillance technology," she wrote.
"The Council and the public should have a clear understanding of what technologies are being used, why they are being used, what information they collect, what risks they pose, what they cost, and what safeguards govern them."
On Sept. 8, the council rejected $31,167 from the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, for the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. For about two hours, councilors dug into the U.S. Department of Justice contract, found grammatical errors, and what they described as abnormally worded conditions and red flags.
Open microphone speakers said provisions in the contract violate the Massachusetts PROTECT Act, which Gov. Maura Healey signed last month to establish statewide limits on state and local cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement.
"Simply saying no to drones is a small first step-a small, and a first step. Very late in our last evening together, much much later on than the jingoistic sales pitches on the effectiveness and use of the drones, the council learned that the Pittsfield Police Department was unaware of local ordinances that y'all passed about that exact technology they wanted you to accept money for," resident Kamaar Taliaferro said on Tuesday.
"Now I'm sure to some of you that was a surprise, but in my 33 years of living in Pittsfield, the surprise, if there was any, was the willingness to admit in public that the police department, our police department, isn't following local laws."
He added that, according to an employee at the Berkshire County House of Corrections, 30-40 percent of the population in the jail is Black. He insisted on the necessity of civilian oversight of the police department, and that the former civilian oversight board "was ethical, stood on their values" and resigned after being barred from reviewing the report on the fatal police shooting of Miguel Estrella.
"The most important one, I think, is: Have there been any cases in which footage that was drone deployed by PPD, the footage was used in a case that's been dismissed, where the accused was found not guilty, or a pre-trial plea deal was agreed to, or in which the accused was held without bail or could not pay the amount bail was set at?" Taliaferro asked.
"If that data isn't being tracked, whatever words that may be said about disagreeing with mass incarceration are moot."
Cunningham's petition was referred to the mayor and city solicitor, and Moody's petition was referred to the mayor.
Tags: drones,
