CITY OF NORTHAMPTON

MASSACHUSETTS

In the Year Two Thousand and Seventeen

Upon the Recommendation of Councilors Ryan R. ODonnell, William H. Dwight and
Alisa F. Klein.

17.___
AN ORDINANCE
ESTABLISHING RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF
SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY IN PUBLIC PLACES

Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Northampton, in City Council

assembled, as follows:

1 That Chapter 285: Streets, Sidewalks, and Public Property (Article III: Streets and
2 Sidewalks Policies) of the Code of Ordinances be amended as follows:
3
4 285-52 Surveillance technology.
5
6 A. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, surveillance technology means
7 hardware or software that records and/or transmits data for the purpose of
8 observing and/or recording the identity, movement or actions of individuals
9 or vehicles within the public way, including but not limited to video cameras,
10 license plate readers, facial recognition systems and mobile phone location
11 readers.
12
13 B. Prohibition. Within the Central Business District, surveillance technology
14 shall not be deployed and/or operated in a fixed location on public property
15 or property leased and/or controlled by the City for a period of more than
16 one day.
17
18 C. Exceptions. This section shall not apply to public property that is part of the
19 municipal parking system.
20

Page 1 of 2
 CITY OF NORTHAMPTON
MASSACHUSETTS

In the City Council, September 21st, 2017

Upon the Recommendation of Councilors Ryan R. ODonnell, Alisa F. Klein and William H. Dwight.

R-17.____
A RESOLUTION
OPPOSING THE INSTALLATION OF MUNICIPALLY-OPERATED
SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY DOWNTOWN

WHEREAS, Downtown Northampton thrives culturally and economically in part due to a free and
open civic atmosphere; and

WHEREAS, People have the right to not be constantly surveilled, as well as certain rights relative to
the data that may be collected on them; and

WHEREAS, While video footage is often used to identify suspects after a crime, research strongly
suggests that surveillance cameras do not effectively deter crime; and

WHEREAS, Surveillance has been shown to alter legitimate, non-criminal behavior and produce a
chilling effect on free expression; and

WHEREAS, Surveillance can lead to diminished public trust in law enforcement, conflicting with the
trust built by Northamptons community policing efforts; and

WHEREAS, Surveillance in Northampton does not pass the test of necessity, because alternatives,
such as community policing, are available; and

WHEREAS, Surveillance in Northampton does not pass the test of proportionality, because clearly-
defined and ongoing problems of a severity outweighing the aforementioned drawbacks
have not been demonstrated; and

WHEREAS, Policies regarding the use of surveillance technology, including questions of data
retention and sharing, public notification, internal auditing requirements, and others,
should not be set exclusively by the agency that is governed by those policies, but rather
codified in laws that are subject to public oversight; and

WHEREAS, Overly-broad public surveillance is inconsistent with an open and democratic society;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council opposes the permanent installation of
additional municipally-operated surveillance technology in public places in downtown Northampton.

Page 2 of 2