Board of Aldermen Determined to Pass Meaningful Oversight of Surveillance Technology and Automated Traffic Enforcement

The Board of Aldermen has worked directly with residents, advocates, and experts to center community voices in the law-making process. Automated Traffic Enforcement and Surveillance Technology Oversight legislation currently before the Board has been shared with and informed by the St. Louis community; those bills are being heard by the committee next week.

Board Bills 105 and 106, sponsored by Alderman of the 3rd Ward Shane Cohn, reestablishes the use of automated traffic enforcement and creates a Neighborhood Traffic Safety Improvement Fund. Fines and fees collected through automated traffic enforcement tools would go directly to this newly established fund to pay for traffic calming and driver education initiatives.

“This Executive Order does not change my position in moving these bills forward. Our communities need lasting, durable policies that address their concerns and provide neighborhoods with additional resources to combat reckless driving,” said Alderman Cohn.

Board Bill 185 creates a public process for evaluating surveillance technology before adoption by the police department—thereby establishing an accountability mechanism separate from the SLMPD’s internal policies and procedures which are not established and cannot be amended by the Board of Aldermen.

“Transparency and accountability from the Police Department are central towards rebuilding trust with the St. Louis community. Doing this process well will begin to restore the legitimacy of the police in people’s minds,” said Alderman Aldridge, sponsor of Board Bill 185. “A half-baked effort will only further undermine community trust and injure SLMPD’s ability to work effectively in the communities they police.”

“An Executive Order is an insufficient tool to achieve accountability. It simply requests compliance from departments and reiterates preexisting regulations related to police conduct established by federal law. Further, unlike ordinances which are codified in city code, Executive Orders can be overturned by future mayoral administrations. True accountability is a responsive relationship between the branches of government and the communities they serve. Despite repeatedly engaging with the Mayor’s Office on this and many other issues important to the people of St. Louis, a pattern of evading responsibility is emerging. The job of the legislative branch is to debate these issues in a public forum with the community; the Board remains committed to that approach and expects the Administration’s cooperation in implementing Board Bills 105, 106, and 185 when they pass during this session.” said President Megan E. Green.

# # #