The Coalition for a Safe San Francisco, a grassroots alliance dedicated to protecting civil rights and civil liberties, alleges that the impact has been on-the-ground discrimination and an erosion of civil rights for many innocent people, with people of color being the most vulnerable, especially those of the city’s South Asian, Middle Eastern and Muslim communities. The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the FBI are keeping secrets.

After 9/11, the SFPD, like many police departments across the country, joined the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF, in an effort to collaborate on the issue of counter-terrorism.  But in April of 2011, it was leaked that the SFPD signed a secret memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the FBI, which supersedes the original JTTF agreement.  As a result, the department is now able to engage in clandestine “counter-terrorism” operations, including investigating and surveilling city residents, often without probable cause and in violation of state and local laws. 

In this ILLUME exclusive report, we investigate the SFPD operations and how civil rights and community groups are fighting back.

[NOTE: Attempts for a response to these allegations from the SFPD and the San Francisco Mayor’s Office went unanswered.]