CCOPS QUESTION FOR ST. LOUIS BOARD OF ALDERMAN CANDIDATES

The ACLU of Missouri sent all candidates for the St. Louis Board of Alderman a questionnaire on whether they would support a Community Control Over Police Surveillance bill.

Candidates' Responses

The following candidates stated they would support a Community Control Over Police Surviellance Bill:

The following candidates did not return the survey:

The following candidate stated they could not commit without seeing the final bill:

The following candidate's contact information could not be located:

CCOPS Questionnaire:

Dear Board of Alderman Candidate,

For the past 5+ years, the ACLU of Missouri and the national ACLU, along with numerous local and national partner organizations, have been working to pass a Community Control Over Police Surveillance (“CCOPS”) bill through the Board of Alderman. CCOPS laws, which have been adopted in 22 other cities and impact more than 17.7 million people, change the rules governing the local acquisition and use of surveillance technologies.  Instead of continuing the status quo of allowing the police and other government agencies to make decisions about acquiring and using surveillance techs unilaterally and in secret, CCOPS requires that such decisions be made transparently, by the democratically accountable members of the Board of Aldermen, and only after providing the public with significant information about the technology and an opportunity to voice their opinions directly to the Board. Such a process allows impacted groups to play a far greater role in surveillance decisions, from abortion care seekers, who risk being identified and prosecuted using surveillance techs, to communities of color, who have always been disproportionately targeted by surveillance.

The 2021 version of CCOPS, designated as Board Bill 31 and sponsored by Alderperson Annie Rice, is primed for adoption. It has the support of Mayor Jones and a significant number of BOA members. St. Louis should become the nation’s 23^rd CCOPS law due to the leadership and influence of the BOA.

All St. Louisans, but especially women and persons of color, are at heightened risk by the growing deployment of surveillance technology and the free sharing of surveillance data. If we are to empower those groups to keep themselves safe, time is of the essence. To avoid unnecessary and potentially significant delays, it is essential a version of BB 31 is adopted during the 2023-24 session. To that end, please respond to the following question:

If elected to the Board of Aldermen, will you commit to using the full influence of your office to prioritize and secure the adoption of CCOPS (BB 31)?

(Please check one)  Yes  No 

Name: __________________________________________Ward: ____________________

Additional Comments:  _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information about the CCOPS effort, please visit www.aclu-mo.org/en/ccops and www.CommunityCTRL.com.

 Kindly provide your response to by Monday, March 6th, 2023.