LAPD Seeks Controversial Gang-Fighting Software

The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking city permission to join a growing network of California police agencies that keep computerized files on alleged gang members, a system that civil libertarians say is potentially abusive of citizens who have never been convicted of a crime.

The LAPD has been awarded a $100,000 state grant to purchase software and computers needed to connect with a computer database that stores the names, nicknames, addresses, friends and photographs of thousands of suspected gang members throughout Los Angeles County--information that authorities contend is crucial for investigating gang-related crimes.

The Gang Reporting Evaluation and Tracking (GREAT) database, which is operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, has been hailed by law-enforcement authorities as one of their most effective tools against gangs.

“I think once we have it we’ll notice crime clearance rates going up,” said LAPD Detective Chuck Zeglin of the department’s gang information section. “It will allow us to investigate gang crimes quicker, better and easier.”

Currently, LAPD officers must call the Sheriff’s Department to get information from the system, which holds files on an estimated 140,000 gang members in Los Angeles County. By midsummer, Los Angeles police will be able call up the files using their own computers if the Los Angeles City Council agrees to accept the state grant.

As a result, an LAPD officer in the San Fernando Valley, for example, will be able to quickly get information on a suspected gang member who committed a crime in Reseda and lives in Long Beach.

But the program’s rapid spread in recent years throughout California, Nevada and Hawaii has alarmed civil libertarians, who are concerned that information stored in the files may be misused, for instance, by being released to employers or school officials.

Law enforcement agencies throughout California and Nevada hope to integrate seven regional data systems, including the one established in Los Angeles County, into a single system by the end of the year.

State officials estimate that 148 agencies are connected to GREAT systems in Nevada as well as the Inland Empire and Alameda, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

Eventually, say police, they hope to expand the system nationwide--a plan that further troubles civil libertarians.

“The piece of information we’re really trying to get are the consequences of being in the system,” said Edward Chen, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. “We want to know if anybody suffers some kind of punishment or disability as a result.”

Authorities say those listed in the computer system have not necessarily been convicted of a crime or even arrested. Some are chosen on the basis of appearance, including clothing and tattoos. And others have been identified through “field interrogations,” interviews conducted with people who are stopped by police but not arrested.

Chen said his office has teamed up with its Southern California counterpart to determine whether innocent people could be hurt by being listed in the files. The ACLU has sent out letters asking law enforcement agencies how they decide who is a gang member. The group is especially worried about unauthorized agencies or individuals gaining access to the system.

Bob Foy, director of the Law Enforcement Communication Network--a nonprofit organization established in 1991 to distribute the GREAT software to police agencies--defended the security of the software program, saying the system has never been breached.

“We have very good security,” Foy said. “I’m sure we’re much more secure than 99% of all other databases.”

Don Mace, an attorney general investigator for the state Department of Justice, said data stored in the computer system meets state and federal entry standards, which defend against computer hackers.

Detective Zeglin said only sworn peace officers and county probation officials will have access to the county system, which could soon include the estimated 55,000 names collected by the LAPD.

Eventually, the statewide system will list more than 180,000 people--mostly from Los Angeles County--who are believed to be active gang members. It will be used as a “one-stop shop” for information on gang members who authorities believe have moved from Southern California to, for example, Sacramento or Fresno.

The software system is also designed to purge the names of individuals who have had no contact with a law enforcement agency within five years.

Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the ACLU of Southern California, said his group wants to learn more about the nonprofit organization established to distribute the software, whose board of directors consists of police chiefs from around the state.

“We have some concerns about whether law enforcement powers that should only be exercised by a government public-safety agency should be ceded to a private company,” Parachini said. “Our attempts to get straight answers on this have been pretty broadly rebuffed.”

Foy said he originally developed the GREAT software for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in the mid-1980s, adapting it later for personal computers. At the time, Foy said, the software program became his personal property, which he planned to sell for profit.

But at the urging of law enforcement agencies, Foy said, he was persuaded to distribute the program through a nonprofit organization. According to a 1992 tax form filed with the Internal Revenue Service, Foy earned nearly $70,000 for his role as director.