San Francisco mayor pushes for Prop E to broaden police powers for safety

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed made a push Thursday for a ballot measure that would change police policy.

"We want to give them the tools that they need to be effective so that we can address public safety in San Francisco in a way that the people of San Francisco want and deserve," said Mayor Breed inside Footprint, a retail store in the Sunset District.

Prop E would give police more leeway to pursue and track suspects, including the use of technology.

"It's about making sure that our police department, like any other police department around the country, can use 21st century technology," said Breed. "That is what this is about, surveillance technology, drones, and using that as a tool."

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The ballot measure would also loosen restrictions on police pursuits and the owner of Footprint is all for it.

"On New Years Eve, my store got broken into at 3 a.m.," said Michael Hsu, owner of Footprint. "Police arrived on time and they were close to catching them but due to police policy, they weren't able to stop them and they let the suspects get away."

"When we're out there at three in the morning responding to something, we don't need to leave through a textbook to figure out that we're doing our job correctly," said Tracy McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, which is in support of Prop E.

"The layers of redundancy, the layers of things that are unnecessary in order to ensure that our officers are doing what we all want them to do, that they're out on the streets serving and protecting the public as much as they possibly can," she added.

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"I'm firmly against Prop E. I believe it's unnecessary and would make us less safe," said Kevin Benedicto, a member of the San Francisco Police Commission, speaking as an individual - not on behalf of the Commission. "It's a poor way to make public policy and sets a bad precedent for SFPD oversight going forward."

When asked about privacy concerns, the mayor was quite clear.

"There's no privacy anymore. That's what I'll say. Everywhere I go, somebody is pulling out a cellphone recording me, taking pictures of me. And I know I'm a public figure. It is what it is. I can't have a private moment. You know, heaven forbid I take my wig off when I go to get my hair done," said Breed. "Do we want to be protected, do we want public safely, do we want accountability, or do we want privacy?"

Voters will have the opportunity to decide on Proposition E on the primary ballot in March.

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