Anew Seattle Police Department (SPD) reform aimed at "Protecting Constitutional Rights" may instead infringe on citizens' rights to peacefully assemble in public.

The troublesome measure—which, iron-ically, comes in response to the Justice Department's demand that the SPD clean up its act—calls on the Seattle City Council to approve legislation that would allow police officers to "proactively film" peaceful protests and public demonstrations on the off chance that they devolve into violence.

The legislation has yet to be drafted, but the ACLU of Washington is already "dubious" that this can be done without granting law- enforcement officers the blanket power to track individuals and groups engaged in legal free-speech practices.

"This is a pretext to engage in recording people's political activity," explains Doug Honig, a spokesman for the ACLU. "The fact that people may be in the streets for political protests shouldn't be grounds for collecting video surveillance tapes of political activity."

The proposal is part of Mayor Mike McGinn's SPD 20/20 plan, which was released in late March and was crafted by SPD brass to address federal findings that say our police officers routinely use excessive force on suspects and have problems resolving minor altercations without pepper spray or a punch in the face.

As Assistant Chief Mike Sanford explained during an April 18 meeting of the city council's Public Safety, Civil Rights, and Technology Committee, the filming would be used "to catch criminal activity when it occurs, not after it occurs." Sanford referenced last fall's Occupy Seattle protest at the Port of Seattle, which included masked protesters lobbing bricks and other projectiles at police. "We want the ability to see the people lobbing bricks before they put their masks on, before they hide their identities," he said.

"This just sounds plain old creepy," argued one activist critical of the SPD after the meeting. He asked not to be named because "it makes me feel a little paranoid of speaking out against them after hearing all that."

There's good reason for that paranoia. The ACLU points out that the proposed reform clashes with a Seattle Police Intelligence Ordinance that expressly forbids law enforcement from collecting information on people's political or religious activities without the reasonable suspicion that they're breaking the law—an ordinance adopted in 1979 after it was discovered that the SPD had amassed hundreds of secret files on people and groups, from antiwar activists to future Seattle mayor Charles Royer, while they were engaging in lawful political activity.

Sanford counters that police already have broad power to videotape demonstrations. "Once people commit pedestrian interference, which is a crime, block the streets and do it intentionally, then they're committing a crime and we can videotape," he says. This new reform, Sanford contends, would simply add a layer of "transparency" as to which people the police are targeting for filming.

If you're mystified as to how this measure actually adds "transparency," so is Council Member Bruce Harrell, chair of the council's public safety committee. "A compelling case [for this reform] has yet to be made," Harrell says.