Ordinance Heads to Full Board with Strong Recommendation of Public Safety Committee and Growing Endorsement List
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA - 03/05/12) Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee heard testimony from dozens of community members and advocates expressing support for the Safe SF Civil Rights Ordinance (File #120046).
The speakers advocated for putting the San Francisco Police Department's (SFPD) activities in the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) back under local control and preventing local police officers from becoming involved in FBI intelligence abuses, including surveillance without suspicion, profiling and the improper use of informants.
Supervisor Jane Kim, who introduced the ordinance on January 24, announced at the March 1 hearing that there were now six members of the Board of Supervisors co-sponsoring this effort to protect civil liberties in San Francisco. Supervisor Kim is joined by Supervisors Eric Mar, John Avalos, David Campos, Christina Olague and Board President David Chiu.
The legislation, modeled closely on a measure enacted last year in Portland, Oregon with the unanimous support of the mayor, city council and police chief of that city, received the unanimous approval of the Public Safety Committee.
"This ordinance shines light on a troubling reality that federal counterterrorism and national security policies that purport to secure us from threats and terrorists, have instead left communities insecure, unsafe and terrorized by none other than the very government claiming to protect them," said Summer Hararah of the Asian Law Caucus. "Restoring local control of SFPD officers participating in the JTTF makes all of us safer, and ensures that local civil rights standards are respected."
As of today, more than 60 civil rights, community, and legal organizations, including most recently the Japanese American Citizens League and the Bar Association of San Francisco, have endorsed the ordinance.
From here, the Ordinance heads to the full eleven-member Board of Supervisors for a vote currently expected to take place March 13th. With six co-sponsors, advocates are confident that the Safe SF Civil Rights ordinance will pass. The Mayor has yet to take a position on the Ordinance and the role of the SFPD in the FBI's JTTF.
The Asian Law Caucus was founded in 1972 as the nation's first legal and civil rights Asian American organization. Recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist in the United States, ALC is committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society, with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income, immigrant and underserved Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Asian Law Caucus is a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. For more information, please visit http://asianlawcaucus.org.
The Coalition for a Safe San Francisco is a growing grassroots alliance dedicated to protecting the civil rights and civil liberties challenged by overbroad national security policies. These policies have historically impacted communities of struggle and today are disproportionately targeting South Asian, Arab, and Muslim Americans. Our Coalition seeks to end racial, religious, and ethnic profiling and harassment by local and federal law enforcement agents in the City and County of San Francisco through community organizing, education, and policy and legal advocacy. For more information, please visit: http://www.safesf.org
