A secret memo indicates that SF cops may be working as FBI spies — with no local oversight
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San Francisco cops assigned to the FBI's terrorism task force can ignore local police orders and California privacy laws to spy on people without any evidence of a crime.
That's what a recently released memo appears to say — and it has sent shockwaves through the civil liberties community.
It also has members of the S.F. Police Commission asking why a carefully crafted set of rules on intelligence gathering, approved in the wake of police spy scandals in the 1990s, were bypassed without the knowledge or consent of the commission.
"It's a bombshell," said John Crew, a long-time police practices expert with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
The ACLU obtained the document April 4 under the California Public Records Act after a long battle. It's a 2007 memorandum of understanding outlining the terms of an agreement between the city and the FBI for San Francisco's participation in the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
And, according to Crew, it effectively puts local officers under the control of the FBI. "That means Police Commission policies do not apply," Crew said. "It allows San Francisco police to circumvent local intelligence-gathering policies and follow more permissive federal rules."
Veena Dubal, a staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, agreed: "This MOU confirms our worst fears," she said.
Dubal noted that in the waning months of the Bush administration, the FBI changed its policies to allow federal authorities to collect intelligence on a person even if the subject is not suspected of a crime. The FBI is now allowed to spy on Americans who have done nothing wrong — and who may be engaged in activities protected by the First Amendment.
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