April 26, 2017

Providence city council votes to improve poiice behavior

Popular Resistance -After three years of sustained community mobilization and advocacy, the Providence City Council in Rhode Island voted  to unanimously approve among the most visionary set of policing reforms proposed around the country to protect civil rights and civil liberties, including digital liberties.

...The Act requires that targeted electronic surveillance be supported by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. ... In addition, the CSA protects the right of residents to observe and record police activities.

....The bill also protects due process rights threatened by the otherwise arbitrary and secretive inclusion of individuals in government gang databases. ... At the same time, responding to controversy about traffic stops and pedestrian stop and frisks rooted in bias rather than observed behavior, the Act requires that police change their processes for searching subjects. In particular, when seeking to search subjects without either a judicial warrant or probable cause to suspect criminal activity, the Act requires police to inform the subjects that they have the right to decline consent to the requested search.

1 comment:

Greg Gerritt said...

We shall see if the City Council passes it again (needs to be voted on twice to pass) and whether or not the Mayor will sign it.