Boston City Council probes $30M school camera expansion, demands stronger privacy policy

BOSTON — December 5, 2024 — Boston City Council questions $30 million BPS camera expansion and unfinished police data-sharing agreement. The Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice held a virtual hearing Thursday on Docket 1208, chaired by At-Large Councilor Henry Santana and co-sponsored by At-Large Councilor Benjamin J. Weber. BPS Chief of Operations Brian Ford and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Samuel DePina confirmed the district is in the second year of a $30 million, five-year camera upgrade program — spending $1,809,412 so far — and published a formal superintendent's circular on camera use policy the same day as the hearing. ACLU Technology for Liberty Director Kate Crockford called that timing telling: "I wonder why that policy was not made available earlier." Citizens for Juvenile Justice Executive Director Leon Smith disclosed that a Lawyers for Civil Rights lawsuit found BPS shared student information with immigration authorities in more than 150 instances before the city's 2021 Surveillance Oversight Ordinance took effect, including one case in which a student was detained by ICE based on a disputed gang-affiliation allegation in a BPS safety report. The BPS-BPD memorandum of understanding governing police access to school footage remains unsigned, with DePina citing ongoing internal policy alignment work; Councilor Edward M. Flynn noted he had been told the agreement was "imminent" for more than a year.