New SF Drone rules

Yeah, Mike, a lot of fans and detractors for those drones, as you might imagine. The San Francisco Police Commission voting tonight to put those new regulations in place, governing the use of those drones by SFPD. But as you might imagine, some are saying those new regulations don't go far enough. San Francisco's Police Commission voted to approve new department guidelines for the use of drones. Commissioner Benedicto. Strongly no. Commissioner Benedicto is no. Vice President Teche. Yes. Vice President Teche is yes. And President Clay. President Clay is yes. You have five yeses. The new rules say drones can be used when a public safety response is called for, but prohibit general surveillance. They also set guidelines for on when and how they can be used at protests. The new rules also limit video retention to 30 days unless the drones capture evidence of a crime, in which case that video can be held for two years. Got the cameras, got the feed, give the city what it needs. Before the commission took up the issue, opponents to drones voiced their concerns on the steps of San Francisco's City Hall, saying drones pose a threat to privacy, support billionaires and companies whose values don't line up with San Francisco values, and increase the militarization of police enforcement in the city. The more that the police use military-grade weapons and surveillance technologies, the more they will continue to see the community as enemy combatants. Inside the hearing room, commissioners heard public comment, some saying the cameras have been critical in catching criminals and ultimately driving down crime in the city. The drones have been very helpful in tracking down and immediately within the same hour, within two hours, capturing the individuals that were engaging in theft, robbery and beating up of people on the street. Opponents to the drone said the language of the policy is vague and could allow for abuse when it comes to how the drones are deployed and how the data they collect are stored and possibly shared. What's really standing out to me right now is how vague and toothless this policy is. And what most upsets me is the conversation that I just heard shows shame on you, frankly, for not having the guts to stand up for our privacy. And now that the police commission has voted to approve this package of guidelines, the department typically takes about three months to finalize details before it fully implements those new rules surrounding drones. And Mike, remember all of this comes on the heels of the mayor and the police department talking about having new guidelines surrounding the use of their license plate reading cameras as well. So really we're seeing some movement in this space in terms of how these cameras, how these devices are all used.