Brian Purchia, co-founder of CivicMakers, was present at creation when the City of San Francisco began its pioneering work with social media. A long time media and public policy strategist whose career in public service began with the election of Gavin Newsom as mayor.  

Credited for a groundbreaking new media strategy at the time,Brian joins regulars Dustin Haisler, Anil Chawla, and Paul Taylor to reflect on how city governments can and should use social media in case of police-involved shootings that spark public protests.

Our interview with Brian as a new new data tool designed to bring consistent transparency in police of force debuted in California (See a related article in the Wall Street Journal.)

Brian also takes stock of the legacy of his work in developing the nation’s first open data law, open source software policy, and API for government. 

(Eyragon Eidam is on assignment.)