SFPD May Have Illegally Used Drones To Combat Crime… Ironic.

For months, San Francisco police have been using drones to catch car break-in suspects and investigate sideshows, but now internal emails reveal that they broke the law when they bought the drones. Now, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is asking city officials to approve the drones retroactively, even though warnings from within the department suggested they should’ve waited.

Emails show that a policy expert within the department had concerns way back before the March 5 election. SFPD was getting ready to purchase drones if voters expanded police powers by passing Proposition E, but a department analyst flagged a potential issue: Prop. E alone didn’t give the police the green light to use drones without first getting approval under state law.

Asja Steeves, the policy division manager at SFPD, reminded the department that even if voters passed Prop. E, it didn’t override Assembly Bill 481. This 2021 law, authored by former Assemblyman David Chiu, requires police to get approval from city officials before using any new surveillance tech. In a February 28 email, Steeves pointed out, “Prop. E does not supersede state law,” urging the department to hold off on buying drones until they went through the proper process according to information acquired by the San Francisco Standard.

She also warned that rushing ahead could land the department in a political mess. “If we want to stay out of the political fray and buy drones to use them effectively,” Steeves advised, “we might want to wait until after the election to begin the AB 481 approval process.”

But the department didn’t wait. After Prop. E passed, drones were purchased, and the SFPD started using them. In a recent press conference, Mayor London Breed and Police Chief Bill Scott pointed to the arrest of car burglars as proof that voters made the right call by giving the police more flexibility. However, civil liberties advocates argue that the department is now scrambling to cover up a misstep, one they were warned about in advance.

Matt Guariglia, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called Steeves’ February email a “smoking gun,” saying that the department was fully aware they needed approval but bought the drones anyway. He criticized the SFPD for violating state law from the start.

When asked about Steeves’ warning and the growing criticism, the SFPD gave a pretty narrow response. Spokesperson Officer Robert Rueca said, “This internal email was sent early in our drone procurement process and doesn’t represent the department’s position at the time.” He added that the email didn’t reflect any input from the city attorney’s office.

At a September 9 Rules Committee meeting, SFPD made their case for retroactive approval of the drones, leaning heavily on advice from the city attorney. During the meeting, Acting Lt. Eric Batchelder listed all the ways drones have been helpful to police, mentioning that they’ve already been used in 65 missions, resulting in 18 arrests.

The department is now seeking official retroactive approval, which will go to a full board vote after being reviewed by the Rules Committee. Until then, under state law, the SFPD can’t legally use the drones, but there’s no real punishment for breaking this rule since AB 481 doesn’t have enforcement measures.

So, in other words, this is illegal, and if you get caught… no biggie. It’s odd that this type of law enforcement only seems to include members of law enforcement. But whatever.

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