Alameda County Sheriff to Get New Cell Phone Unlocking Tool

 Cell Phone Unlocking  No Responses »
Aug 142019
 
Alameda County Sheriff to Get New Cell Phone Unlocking Tool

Although the Alameda County Sheriff already had a Cellebrite cell phone extraction device it purchased in 2018 for more than $200,000, the Sheriff was recently awarded $30,000 to acquire GrayKey, which has similar functionality. The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Program grant is funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant requires that the money be spent by December 31, 2019. Acceptance of the grant was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on July 9, 2019. The grant lists $30,000 for the “GrayKey Forensic Encryption […]

Local Fusion Center Collecting 80 Million License Plate Records Annually

 License plate readers  No Responses »
Jun 112019
 
Local Fusion Center Collecting 80 Million License Plate Records Annually

According to information released in response to a public records request, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center collected more than 79.2 million license plate reader records from 32 local law enforcement agencies from June 2018 to May 2019. Piedmont, a city with about 11,000 people, sent the most data to NCRIC, with more than 22.4 million license plate reader records, which include license plate numbers and photographs of vehicles and their surroundings. Piedmont has more than 30 stationary license plate readers that capture nearly all traffic coming into and out of Piedmont. In calendar year 2018, Piedmont collected 21.6 million […]

California Police Training Videos

 Police Training  No Responses »
Mar 172019
 
California Police Training Videos

The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) produces training materials for law enforcement agencies in California. Videos are available in DVD format to law enforcement agencies for $99. Through the beauty of the California Public Records Act, below are some of the POST training videos and other police training videos. Twenty-one training videos from the California Highway Patrol were withheld under California Government Code § 6254 (f) because they were “for Department and/or law enforcement viewing only.” Body Worn Cameras, January 2016 – Description Bias Based Policing: Remaining Fair & Impartial, September 2014 – Description Homelessness and […]

ICE Protests Highlight Contra Costa County Sheriff Drone Program

 Drones  2 Responses »
Aug 042018
 

Many protesters observed the use of multiple drones at the West Contra Costa County Detention Center on June 30, 2018, during a protest against ICE and its practice of family separation. Journalist Darwin BondGraham wrote about this in an East Bay Express article on July 3, 2018. Documents released in response to a public records request indicated that the drone was also flown over the June 26, 2018, protest at the same facility. The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s drone (or unmanned aerial vehicle/system) program was started in 2016. The agency purchased its first drone on September 7, 2016, a DJI […]

Alameda County District Attorney Has Cell Phone Unlocking Tool

 Cell Phone Unlocking  No Responses »
Jul 092018
 
Alameda County District Attorney Has Cell Phone Unlocking Tool

The Alameda County District Attorney has had a tool for unlocking cell phones since at least 2016. The tool is made by Cellebrite, an Israeli company, that markets tools for extracting data from cell phones to governments, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement agencies. According to a February 2018 Forbes article, Cellebrite can reportedly unlock iPhones up to and including the iPhone X running iOS 11.2.6. However, Apple introduced USB restricted mode in iOS 11.4.1 on July 9, 2018, which may impact Cellebrite’s ability to break into locked iPhones. The difficulty of law enforcement in obtaining access to locked iPhones has […]

Fremont: 14.5 million vehicles scanned in 11 months

 License plate readers  No Responses »
Jun 102018
 
Fremont: 14.5 million vehicles scanned in 11 months

According to data from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), the city of Fremont collected 14.5 million license plates and photos from license plate readers located throughout the city from December 2016 to October 2017. The installation of stationary license plate readers was approved by the Fremont City Council on July 14, 2015, without any public comment or discussion during the meeting. Of the 28 jurisdictions sending license plate reader data to NCRIC, Fremont collects the third-highest amount of data, behind Vallejo (21.7 million) and Piedmont (21.3 million). NCRIC is a regional fusion center that provides a license plate […]

Urban Shield Trust Fund paid for trips to Israel, parking tickets and paint jobs

 police militarization  3 Responses »
Mar 242018
 
Urban Shield Trust Fund paid for trips to Israel, parking tickets and paint jobs

On July 31, 2007, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved the establishment of “a cash fund in which to deposit donations, sponsorship and exhibitor fees and make payments for associated costs;” for Urban Shield. Expenses and revenues for that trust fund were received in response to a public records request to the Alameda County Sheriff. In 2008 and 2009, the Urban Shield trust fund lists $7,634 for legal expenses. However, the nature of those expenses was redacted by the Alameda County Sheriff. Two round trip tickets to Israel were expended from the Urban Shield trust fund in 2008, but […]

Alameda County Sheriff Installed License Plate Reader at Highland Hospital Emergency Room Entrance

 License plate readers  No Responses »
Nov 222017
 
Alameda County Sheriff Installed License Plate Reader at Highland Hospital Emergency Room Entrance

The Center for Human Rights and Privacy recently discovered that the Alameda County Sheriff installed a license plate reader at the entrance to Highland Hospital’s emergency room. The information was included in a list of 29 agencies that submit license plate reader to the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), a local joint fusion center. However, when the East Bay Times asked about its license plate readers in February 2017, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reported that it had about six license plate readers, mounted to patrol cars and didn’t mention the license plate reader at Highland Hospital. Although the […]

Solano County Sheriff Gets Initial Funding for Project Skynet

 License plate readers, Video surveillance  2 Responses »
Aug 052017
 
Solano County Sheriff Gets Initial Funding for Project Skynet

With a nod to Terminator’s self-aware computer network, the Solano County Sheriff in Northern California has applied for and received partial funding for Project Skynet, a network of surveillance cameras and automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Project Skynet would install 160 ALPRs and 124 surveillance cameras at 66 locations throughout Solano County. In its response to a request for public records, Daniel Wolk, Deputy County Counsel for Solano County noted, “this is at the proposal stage and specifics, including camera locations, have not been decided upon.” Like the ring of stationary ALPRs around the City of Piedmont, the goal of […]

Harris’ Aerial Surveillance System Demonstrated at Urban Shield 2015

 Video surveillance  No Responses »
Oct 252016
 
Harris' Aerial Surveillance System Demonstrated at Urban Shield 2015

Harris Corporation demonstrated its CorvusEye aerial surveillance system at the annual Urban Shield event organized by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in 2015. The aerial surveillance system was used as part of a water supply sabotage scenario at Dunsmuir Reservoir in Oakland. The CorvusEye aerial surveillance system was developed by defense contractor Exelis, which Harris Corp. purchased in 2015. According to Harris’ web site, CorvusEye can provide continuous monitoring and tracking over a 2.7 square mile (7 square km) are during the day and 1.2 square miles (3.1 square km) at night. Harris’ CorvusEye is a competitor to the system […]

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