PD Editorial: Deploy police tech, but ensure oversight

The Santa Rosa Police Department wants to deploy high-tech tools to help officers do their jobs more effectively. They should harness the best technology to solve and deter crime, but safeguards must accompany that technology.

Thanks to nearly $900,000 provided by Congress, police will deploy crime-surveillance technology. A new Real Time Crime Center will use gunshot-detecting sensors, automated license plate readers and other tech to keep the community safe.

Police Chief John Cregan wants to reduce violent crimes, especially crimes involving guns, by enabling officers to respond more effectively and efficiently to incidents. “It’s about getting there more quickly, locating offenders who are fleeing the scenes, getting that offender off the street and then getting that firearm which was used in a crime off the street,” he told The Press Democrat.

If the department’s move into high-tech policing can deliver all that, the community should support it. But it is important to remember that technology is fallible; it is a tool, not a golden solution.

Police technology exists in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders. Law enforcement, city leaders and the public jointly need to determine what kinds of surveillance, and how much, are appropriate.

In the nearly two years since Cregan became Santa Rosa’s top cop, the department has worked to stem gun violence, seize illegal firearms, get a handle on gang activity and discourage sideshows. Meanwhile, Cregan has committed himself to transparency and maintaining public trust.

But the experience in other cities shows how police technology can be misapplied, crossing the line into an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and potentially perpetuating stereotypes of marginalized communities. Bear in mind that data already show Black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be stopped by police in Santa Rosa and California as a whole.

Santa Rosa must develop, enforce and audit strong policies regarding surveillance technology and related systems. The department manual includes a section on automated license plate readers, and one will be added on “Public Safety Video Surveillance System.” Those are essential, but in the long term they are not a substitute for a thoughtful, effective city ordinance on surveillance technology, such as Sebastopol has adopted.

Cregan said he plans to have a transparency portal for the public, like the Piedmont Police Department provides. It would include the agency’s technology policy and explanations of how the department will use public technology and what it will not use, such as facial recognition and biometrics.

Again, that is a good idea. However, the city should go further by embracing outside oversight of how the technology is employed. Santa Rosa already contracts with an independent police auditor, which issued its first report last year.

An immediate priority should be getting the public involved in understanding and discussing the department’s plans for surveillance technology. The public is invited to the next public safety subcommittee meeting, but that is not until July 23.

Santa Rosa should move more quickly to hold public meetings — publicizing them well — for Cregan to thoroughly explain the technology plans and get feedback from residents. Those sessions are needed to provide the promised transparency and evaluate public support.

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.