Show and tell

Riding a wave of public support for criminal justice reforms, the City Council is set today to approve the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, a bill requiring the NYPD to disclose information about the technology it uses in policing. The legislation has one major flaw.

The police department is reported to have used a range of technologies to help do its job, from now-well-known CCTV cameras and GPS trackers to Stingray cell-tower simulators, from ShotSpotter gunshot detectors to face recognition software, from listening devices to video drones and x-ray vans with the ability to peer through vehicle doors and walls.

We want cops to be well equipped to prevent and solve crimes, especially with sophisticated terrorists (remember them?) still eager to exploit any vulnerability. But all of the tech in question costs taxpayers money and some of it raises serious privacy concerns — which argues for telling the public what’s in the field, just as federal agencies typically do.

NYPD brass, though, are rightly concerned that sharing details about recording and transmitting devices used by undercover police could out undercover officers. The POST Act, they say, should be amended to grant the police commissioner power to exempt technology from disclosure when a spotlight would jeopardize cops’ safety. We agree. Such exemptions should be allowed, but only after being reviewed and approved by an independent layer of oversight.

Mayor de Blasio says he will sign the POST Act. He should say: If and only if it carves out this sane exemption.