Ripple's CEO, Chris Larsen, has donated $250,000 to a series of initiatives proposed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, including proposals to expand the police's authority in the use of surveillance technologies and drones for tracking suspects.
As reported by the online publication San Francisco Standard (SFS), Chris Larsen currently holds the top spot in the list of donors, with his total contributions to support these initiatives exceeding $350,000. It should be noted that these proposals may be adopted through special direct votes.
Chris Larsen, the CEO of Ripple, allocated $250,000 to a pre-election committee that supports a more lenient approach to approving police requests for the use of surveillance technologies. According to the information, this will allow the police to freely use drones and facial recognition technologies for a year before regulatory authorities can conduct a thorough review.
Chris Larsen also made a $100,000 donation to support an initiative aimed at requiring potential recipients of social benefits suspected of drug addiction to undergo appropriate testing and, if necessary, enroll in rehabilitation programs to continue receiving financial support.
Official authorities have described these measures as punitive and believe that they harm people suffering from addiction. The initiative was rejected by regulatory agencies, but it remains popular among target voters.
Chris Larsen explained that he made these donations at the request of San Francisco Mayor London Breed. As for the initiative to increase the police force through additional taxes, Larsen called it “utter nonsense”.
