It’s not easy to control police use of tech—even with a law

Enlarge (credit: Roy Rochlin | Getty Images)

In 2018, Oakland enacted an innovative law giving citizens a voice in police use of surveillance technology. The Electronic Frontier Foundation called it “ the new gold standard in community control of police monitoring . ” Since then, about 20 other cities have adopted similar laws.

Now, Brian Hofer, one of the architects of Oakland’s law, says it’s not working. Earlier this month, Hofer filed suit against the city and the police department, saying they had repeatedly violated the legislation.

“We ignored human nature, ” Hofer says within an interview. “Police don’t like to be transparent. Surveillance technology use is by design secretive, and no self-interested party is going in order to voluntarily highlight anything negative regarding their own proposal. ” A spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department says it doesn’t comment on ongoing legal matters.