Liberal California city makes dramatic U-turn on police surveillance, poll shows See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The California Post on Google San Francisco police have expanded their use of cameras, drones and other surveillance tech to nab criminals — and most residents of the famously liberal city are good with it, a new poll shows. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed in a poll by GrowSF, a San Francisco political advocacy group, said they somewhat or strongly support the use of cameras and drones after a 911 call to assist in “active investigations.” A strong majority — 66% of those surveyed — even backed real-time video monitoring of crime hotspots such as Tenderloin drug markets “to help deter crime and hold criminals accountable.” Currently, police are only allowed to monitor live footage in limited circumstances. Similar numbers of San Francisco residence said they support using surveillance tech for other uses, such as preventing illegal dumping (67%) and “monitoring areas with high drug-use” to help prevent overdoses (69%). The GrowSF poll suggests San Franciscans broadly support giving cops more leeway in catching suspects: 66% support giving police tasers, while an overwhelming 75% are in favor of police dispersing drug markets. “By many measures, San Francisco is safer, and its quality of life is stronger than it has been in decades, thanks in part to modern public-safety technology,” said Steven Bacio, co-founder of GrowSF, in a statement. “The message is clear: residents want city leaders to continue modernizing the police department and deploying every effective tool available to keep them and their families safe,” he added. The new survey appears to reflect a sharp turnaround in police surveillance sentiment in the Bay Area city, which became the first city in the US to ban the use of facial