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ST. LOUIS — Progressive groups and activists on Thursday broke with Mayor Tishaura O. Jones on a bill aimed at strengthening oversight of police surveillance.

Advocates, organizers and representatives of organizations like Arch City Defenders, Action ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Abortion Action Missouri came to City Hall on Thursday and urged aldermen to advance the plan, calling it an essential check on police power that would build trust between officers and residents. They pushed back on Jones’ claims that the plan would make officers’ jobs harder and lead to increased crime.

“We the people deserve the right to approve or deny the use of any surveillance technology that will be used in our neighborhoods,â€� said Tammy Bufford, an organizer with Action ºüÀêÊÓƵ.

The testimony marked the latest disagreement between Jones and left-wing activists who pushed hard to get her elected, but have been disappointed by police department budget increases, fights with watchdogs at the city jail and the breakup of homeless camps downtown. It also came just days after Aldermanic President Megan Green, a longtime Jones ally, said the mayor’s opposition made her question Jones’ commitment to increasing government transparency.

Conner Kerrigan, a mayoral spokesperson, brushed off the conflict Thursday evening. He said that Jones is focused on keeping residents and visitors safe on city streets, and that there is no indication that the bill would help that cause.

The bill in question would require city agencies to present their plans for new and existing surveillance technology to the board at public hearings and get aldermanic approval to move forward. The concept has been kicking around left-wing circles for several years now, and once enjoyed support from Jones and a majority of current board members.

But things took a turn this fall. Jones began pushing for the reintroduction of red-light cameras to combat reckless driving. Green said that couldn’t happen until the oversight bill passed. Jones and Police Chief Robert Tracy balked.

After months of stalemate, Jones held a press conference last week blasting Green and her allies for holding up red-light cameras as people died on city streets. Her staff criticized the oversight bill as something that would divert police from crimefighting, lead to increased crime, and perhaps violate a state law restricting officials’ interaction with police.

And Tracy told aldermen Thursday that police could address transparency concerns by simply releasing more information about their surveillance activity.

But advocates pushed back.

William Waller, a managing attorney at Arch City Defenders, said that when he was a public defender, he saw police and prosecutors drop significant cases to conceal their use of a controversial cellphone tracking device. And he said his former colleagues tell him they’re still hiding it.

“That actually belies much of what Chief Tracy claimed about the transparency of the SLMPD,� he said.

John Chasnoff, a longtime police reform activist, said he was there when the state law Jones’ office brought up was written. It was intended to keep city officials from asking police to do them or their friends favors, he said, and specifically exempted actions taken as part of a lawmaker’s official duties, like passing a bill.

“I’m dismayed at the administration for making that argument,� Chasnoff said.

And Chad Marlow, an attorney for the ACLU, said the mayor’s office’s messaging about crime rising in other cities after they adopted similar legislation ignored the fact that crime rose in cities across the country at the same time.

“Classic causation fallacy,� he said.

Maggie Olivia, policy manager for Abortion Action Missouri, an abortion rights group, emphasized to aldermen that the people speaking to them have spent a lot of time and money electing people to advance their interests.

“They are imploring you to pass this bill,� she said.

The committee did not take a vote on the bill Thursday. Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, the bill sponsor, said he expects to have another hearing next week.