Activists seek stricter oversight on FBI-S.F. cops’ partnership

Civil rights advocates are calling for tighter oversight of the San Francisco Police Department’s collaboration with FBI counterterrorism agents under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Statements by Trump, including his call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., have underscored the importance of local authorities following city and state rules when partnering with the federal government, said Brittney Rezaei, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

“Under the new administration, there are a lot of unknowns and in particular, a lot of threats toward communities that have historically been surveilled by organizations like the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” Rezaei said. “It’s important now that we make sure that any local resources such as those within the San Francisco Police Department are complying with local laws.”

CAIR, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, sent the city Police Commission a letter last week asking for the department’s commitment to following local laws when working with the task force.

Local laws include a department general order requiring written authorization from a supervisor for any investigation involving activities that may be protected by the First Amendment, and San Francisco’s Sanctuary City ordinance, which limits city employees’ cooperation with federal immigration agents.

Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman, said Monday that a binding order issued in 2011 requires that city officers “comply with department policies at all times,” including the general order regarding First Amendment activities. “Officers assigned to any federal task force must, first and foremost, comply with department policies and procedures,” Andraychak said. He said that in areas where state law is more restrictive than federal law, officers working on the terrorism task force “shall conform to the requirements of such California statutes.”

The Joint Terrorism Task Force, which has two full-time city officers assigned to it, was established in 2007, when the police force entered into an agreement with the FBI that authorized intelligence-gathering by San Francisco officers of people engaged in First Amendment activities such as religious services, protests and political assemblies. City officers may only surveil people if there is a “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity.

In August, the city’s civilian Office of Citizen Complaints ruled that a “training failure” had occurred when an officer with the task force showed up unannounced at the workplace of a person he wanted to interview. Civil rights advocates’ long-standing concern about potential abuses of the partnership has intensified since Trump’s election.

In their letter, advocates called for better training, an audit by the Office of Citizen Complaints, and an established protocol for handling any alleged violations of policy. Under the Sanctuary City ordinance, officers “should be immediately instructed to not participate in U.S. person status checks for citizenship or residency status,” the letter stated.

Andraychak said, “The SFPD is also committed to the principles of and complies with the city’s Sanctuary City ordinance.”

Christina Sinha, an attorney in the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus national security and civil rights program, said police need to offer clearer assurances. “We need specifics,” she said.