Next week, a bill bringing red light cameras back will be discussed in committee. In anticipation, this morning St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones signed an executive order that outlines how St. Louis Police can utilize surveillance technology with those cameras. However this executive order differs from the Board of Aldermen's version of the legislation. In the Mayor's executive order, the police and public safety department have the power to implement new technology, while the board's bill says they must approve of all new technology. Jones says their bill hinders law enforcement.
"When you look at how [similar legislation] is implemented in other cities. It's actually detrimental and ties the hands of our law enforcement."
I asked Mayor Jones how the Board's Bill tied the hands of law enforcement. She only said we should compare the legislation.
In a follow up, a spokesperson for the Mayor's office provided a list of cities that saw crime rise after introducing similar legislation but could not provide anything that shows a specific correlation.
So we asked the bill's sponsor Alderman Rasheen Aldridge to compare the legislation.
"Well one is oversight and one is not. That's just the truth about it."
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge says his bill provides actual oversight.
"My oversight [bill] allows for the community to have public weigh-in during our committee," said Aldridge, adding "and for the Board of Aldermen to be able to talk not just to the community but talk to the Chief and ultimately make a vote on if this technology violates people's civil liberties.
Mayor Jones said she hopes her executive order pushes the board take action and pass the red light camera bill, first introduced in October.
"I call on the Board of Aldermen to act urgently to pass this legislation."
Alderman Alrdige's bill and the bill bringing red light cameras back are both set to appear in committee this week.
However, Alderman Shane Cohn is sponsoring legislation to bring those red light cameras back and is concerned with the lack of power the Mayor's executive order has.
"You're saying the police department shall not share [data and footage] with X, Y, and Z (sic) but what's the recourse if it does get shared?" Cohn said "that's not spelled out in the executive order."
Mayor Jones said she hopes her executive order pushes the Board of Aldermen to act on Cohn's bill, especially in light of a mother and daughter from Chicago being killed outside a concert after a driver ran a red light.
In response to Mayor Tishaura Jones executive order, Aldermanic President Megan Green called out the Mayor. She says Mayor Jones is changing her tune on community oversight of police utilization of surveillance technology. Green said she is starting to see a trend. Green says this is not the first instance this has happened and is afraid a pattern might be forming.
"We have found it very difficult to get any information from this administration and we are beginning to see a pattern of evading responsibility."
Green elaborated, saying "we've seen this around the jail oversight and not wanting true oversight with our jails. We've had continual issues getting information from the City Counselor's office."
Green says she hopes she is wrong and this is not an emerging pattern of behavior.
