A Concerned Baltimore Resident just started [ [link removed] ]a petition to Mayor Bernard
C. Young and Baltimore City Council to:

Say no to spying on your constituents!

[ [link removed] ]Sign now
[ [link removed] ]Tell Baltimore City Council to say no to surveillance

Dear John,

I just started a petition titled "[ [link removed] ]Baltimore City Council: Say no to
spying on your constituents!"

Baltimore is the latest city with plans to invest thousands of taxpayer
dollars into a rebate program that will allow it to spy on its own
residents. Just last week, councilman Eric Costello, introduced
legislation that would give Baltimore residents up to $150 to install a
private doorbell camera system, like Ring or Nest, in their homes. The
catch? To receive the money, residents first have to sign up for the
police department’s CitiWatch Community Partnership program. This will
allow the police to identify and target all the homes that have those
camera systems installed. In order to qualify, residents must also agree
to point the camera into a public space for at least two years. The
dangers of a program like this are too many to list. In major cities
across the nation, the police have already used this kind of footage to
carry out sting operations, make targeted arrests, and push legislators to
enact “broken windows” policies to imprison countless poor people
throughout the country. That’s why any council member who claims to care
about their constituents will refuse to allow this legislation to move any
further.

[ [link removed] ]We must protect our communities from mass surveillance. Sign now to
demand Baltimore City Council drop the legislation to link private camera
systems to law enforcement.

We know mass surveillance and broken window policies don’t keep our
communities safe. With no oversight for the use of this footage, Black
Baltimore residents run the risk of winding up in a unregulated police
database, or even arrested and prosecuted, due to the disproportionate use
of this technology against our people. Police violence against Black
people is at an all-time high and we cannot allow lawmakers to ignore how
surveillance partnership programs with law enforcement so often result in
potentially violent interactions with the police. The city should not be
paying residents to spy on each other, they should be investing that money
in resources that actually keep people safe: things like good schools,
quality mental health care institutions, trauma centers, and employment
opportunities.

[ [link removed] ]Will you sign the petition and forward this email to make sure your
voice is heard? Add your name here.

It’s time for Baltimore City Council to protect their constituents, not
put them in harm’s way. Sign to make your voice heard today. Tell
Baltimore City Council to say no to mass surveillance!

[ [link removed] ]The time to fight for our community members is now. Sign to demand that
Baltimore City Council drop its plans to invest in the overpolicing of our
neighborhoods.

Thank you,

A Concerned Baltimore Resident

 

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[ [link removed] ]Sign now


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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.

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