The New York City Council voted overwhelmingly last Thursday to enact the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act – the latest in a series of moves by the city to bring reform to the police department. The bill requires the NYPD to publicly report the description and capabilities of its surveillance technologies, as well as instituting an oversight system to audit the use of those tools and ensure compliance, according to CNBC.

The passage of the bill came over intense opposition from the NYPD, who argued release of the information could endanger covert activities being carried out by the department. Public defenders, however, offered strong support for the bill at a time when surveillance tools have become so powerful as to represent a chronic danger to the civil liberties of all New Yorkers.

“Our ability to represent our clients, overwhelmingly people of color, is hindered by the clandestine use of surveillance against them, their families and their communities,” Jerome Greco, Supervising Attorney of the Digital Forensics Unit, said at Wednesday’s conference. “We cannot wage a zealous fight in court on their behalf if we do not even know there is something to fight over.”