In 2022, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that would allow the city's police department to access footage from private security cameras under certain circumstances. A new city report sheds light on just how much the police have used the privilege.
Between 2021 and 2022, news reports depicted a wave of "smash-and-grab" retail thefts across California. San Francisco Mayor London Breed complained that city policy did not allow police to access security camera footage during emergency situations. "Where there were multiple robbery crews hitting multiple stores, [police] couldn't even access those cameras, which is ridiculous," Breed said in December 2021.
