ACLU Massachusetts explains:
"The Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) ordinance aims to protect privacy, civil liberties, and the democratic process by requiring police departments to get community buy-in before acquiring new surveillance technologies."
Learn more about CCOPS from:
Read through this model CCOPS ordinance from the national ACLU.
While the City of Beverly Charter may conflict in a few areas (namely procurement/funding), the majority of the ordinance can be copied and implemented as is — and the conflicting portions can be adjusted to accomplish the same goals.
Below you'll find local ordinances passed by City Councils in 7 other municipalities. We've included population estimates (from U.S. Census annual estimates for 2025) to give a sense of comparison to Beverly's roughly 43K residents.
(population 19K)
(population 31K)
Chapter 290: Surveillance Systems (Dec 2019)
(population 60K)
Community Control Over Public Surveillance Ordinance (Apr 2023)
CCOPS amendments (Dec 2024 - Jan 2025)
Face Surveillance Ordinance (Jan 2026)
(population 84K)
Executive Policy on Surveillance Technology (Oct 2017) - overridden by subsequent ordinance
Chapter 10: Police > Article III. Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (Oct 2019)
(population 89K)
(population 122K)
(population 673K)