MEMORANDUM
TO: PAC FROM: Yun Zhou, Sergeant of Police
OPD, Criminal Investigation Division
SUBJECT: Forensic Logic CopLink /
CrimeTracer System – 2023
Annual Report
DATE: May 13, 2024
Background
Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) 9.64.040: Surveillance Technology “Oversight following City Council approval” requires that for each approved surveillance technology item, City staff must present a written annual surveillance report for Privacy Advisory Commission (PAC). After review by the PAC, City staff shall submit the annual surveillance report to the City Council. The PAC shall recommend to the City Council that:
• The benefits to the community of the surveillance technology outweigh the costs and that civil liberties and civil rights are safeguarded.
• That use of the surveillance technology cease; or
• Propose modifications to the corresponding surveillance use policy that will resolve the concerns.
Oakland Police Department (OPD) Department General Order (DGO) I-24: Forensic Logic CopLink / LEAP, as well as OMC 9.64.040 together require that OPD provide an annual report to the Chief of Police, the PAC, and Public Safety Committee. The information provided below is compliant with these annual report requirements.
DGO I-24 explains that authorized members may use CopLink for the purpose of searching the system in the service of conducting criminal investigations, such as apprehending subjects, locating and returning stolen property, as well as in the protection of the law enforcement officers encountering the individuals described in the system. Authorized purposes also include other appropriate OPD organizational investigations (e.g., internal affairs, missing persons, and use of force investigations).
In 2023, CrimeTracer was introduced as the next iteration of CopLink. Forensic Logic also rebranded to SoundThinking. The product being used by OPD is now called SoundThinking CrimeTracer. OPD began migrating its user accounts in August of 2023 from CopLink to CrimeTracer. Functionally, it is the same product and consists of the same features and security.
The only change made to the product is the name, logo and color scheme. In this annual report, for the sake of simplicity, OPD will refer to both iterations of the product as SoundThinking CrimeTracer.
Acting Captain Hamann Nguyen, Criminal Investigation Division Commander, was the Program Coordinator for 2023.
A. A description of how the surveillance technology was used, including the type and quantity of data gathered or analyzed by the technology
CrimeTracer search technology is used regularly by both OPD sworn field / patrol personnel and command staff. Search parameters include the following criteria which are submitted to a search engine where data originating from law enforcement records, calls for service, field interviews, arrest/booking records and citations are stored:
• License plate numbers
• Persons of interest
• Locations
• Vehicle descriptions
• Incident numbers
• Offense descriptions/penal codes
• Geographic regions (e.g., Police Beats or Police Areas)
Data is stored in an FBI Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) compliant repository in the Microsoft Azure GovCloud.
In 2023, there were a total of 646 users accounts who conducted Forensic Logic searches, for a total of 360,250 separate queries. Table below breaks down this search data by month and by distinct user and total searches.
Table 1: OPD CrimeTracer / CopLink Searches; by Distinct User and Search Totals – 2023
CopLink
Search Type January February March April May June
Number of OPD
distinct users in
each month
324 301 337 306 322 323
Number of searches
conducted 39,418 32,700 43,082 28,151 39,056 38,126
Search Type July August September October November December Number of OPD
distinct users in
each month
300 289 258 223 101 90
Number of searches
conducted 29,409 25,964 21,922 10,961 5,044 4,077
CrimeTracer (Migration of user accounts began in September)
Search Type January February March April May June
Number of OPD
distinct users in
each month
3 4 3 4 2 3
Number of searches
conducted 330 239 381 84 93 116
Search Type July August September October November December
Number of OPD
distinct users in
each month
4 45 40 211 176 180
Number of searches
conducted 882 2906 2179 12311 10439 12380
B. Whether and how often data acquired through the use of the surveillance technology was shared with outside entities, the name of any recipient entity, the type(s) of data disclosed, under what legal standard(s) the information was disclosed, and the justification for the disclosure(s):
Data searched with the CrimeTracer system is entirely acquired from incident reports, citations, calls for service and field interviews that have already been recorded in originating Records Management Systems, Computer Aided Dispatch Systems, and Mobile Field Reporting Systems – from both OPD systems as well as from other law enforcement agency systems (other SoundThinking client agencies). The data is collected from OPD systems at least once every 24 hours; once the data is collected and resides in the SoundThinking cloud repository, it is made available to agencies subscribing to the service who are permitted by their agency command staff to access CJIS information.
CrimeTracer does not keep statistics on who searched and viewed the data shared, but the system can be audited for a specific search.
Data sourced from the Oakland Police Department cannot be accessed by US DHS ICE nor US DHS CBP staff.
C. Where applicable, a breakdown of what physical objects the surveillance technology hardware was installed upon; using general descriptive terms so as not to reveal the specific location of such hardware; for surveillance technology software, a breakdown of what data sources the surveillance technology was applied to
The CrimeTracer service is a web portal accessible by authorized OPD users on OPD computers with an appropriate user-id and password (criteria for both defined by FBI CJIS Security Addendum). OPD data sources that provide data accessible to the search tool include the following:
• Arrest records
• Field contacts
• Incident reports
• Service calls
• ShotSpotter Activations
• Stop Data reports
• Traffic Accident reports
D. Where applicable, a breakdown of where the surveillance technology was deployed geographically, by each police area in the relevant year
Not applicable. The technology is a web portal that is accessible to computers on the OPD network.
E. A summary of community complaints or concerns about the surveillance technology, and an analysis of the technology's adopted use policy and whether it is adequate in protecting civil rights and civil liberties. The analysis shall also identify the race of each person that was subject to the technology’s use. The P AC may waive this requirement upon making a determination that the probative value in gathering this information to evaluate the technology’s impact on privacy interests is outweighed by the City’s administrative burden in collecting or verifying this information and the potential greater invasiveness in capturing such data. If the PAC makes such a determination, written findings in support of the determination shall be included in the annual report submitted fo r City Council review.
No community complaints or concerns were communicated to staff in 2023.
OPD is not able to provide the race of each person connected to each query. The technology is intended as a search engine of records (section C), not all queries would contain the race data of the person subject to the technology’s use. OPD would have to individually evaluate tens of thousands of searches to provide the requested race data. Staff recommends the PAC makes the determination that the probative value in gathering this information to evaluate the technology’s impact on privacy interests is outweighed by the City’s administrative burden in collecting or verifying this information.
F. The results of any internal audits, any information about violat ions or potential violations of the Surveillance Use Policy, and any actions taken in response unless the release of such information is prohibited by law, including but not limited to confidential personnel file information
No internal audit was conducted on CopLink or CrimeTracer in 2023.
Staff was not made aware of any criminal or administrative investigation pertaining to the misuse of the technology in 2023.
G. Information about any data breaches or other unauthorized access to the data collected by the surveillance technology, including information about the scope of the breach and the actions taken in response
There were no identifiable data breaches or known unauthorized access during 2023.
H. Information, including case examples, that helps the community assess whether the surveillance technology has been effective at achieving its identified purposes:
Homicide Case Examples
During the investigation of a homicide that took place in the first quarter of 2023, the investigator conducted biographical searches of the victim and saw that there had been prior reports of assault involving the victim and another individual. Additional searches revealed this individual to be associated with a particular vehicle. The vehicle matched the make and model of the vehicle used in the homicide. This lead was vital in the early stage of the investigation and eventually allowed OPD to arrest the previously mentioned individual for the homicide.
During the investigation of another homicide in the third quarter of 2023, the investigator had determined the license plate of the suspect vehicle. A search of the registered owner of the
suspect vehicle showed a prior contact by OPD. In this contact by OPD, another individual was also contacted along with the registered owner of the vehicle. This individual was eventually determined to be the suspect of the homicide and arrested.
During the investigation of a homicide in the second quarter of 2023, the investigator received video surveillance that showed the suspect entering and exiting a particular address. A search of the address showed an individual making a report from that location.
The individual was eventually determined to be the suspect of the homicide and arrested.
Shooting Case Example
During the investigation of a shooting in the first quarter of 2023, the investigator developed the nickname of one of the shooters along with a phone number. A search of the phone number showed a report where an individual provided that phone number during a police contact. An additional search of that individual showed associated of this individual with the nickname provided. The investigator was eventually able to develop additional evidence from these searches to arrest this individual for the shooting.
Burglary Case Example
During the investigation of a burglary series in the fourth quarter of 2023, the investigator determined that the suspect frequently called a phone number after each burglary. The investigator conducted a search of the phone number, the individual associated with the phone number and the locations associated with these individuals. From these searches, the investigator was able to determine a location where the suspect had left valuable evidence to the investigation and was able to recover these evidence items.
Robbery Case Example
Patrol officers responded to a report of an armed robbery in the first quarter of 2023. During the preliminary investigation, patrol officers obtained the license plate of the suspect vehicle.
A search was conducted, and officers located a report of a recent traffic enforcement stop of the vehicle by OPD. Officers using information from this report were able to locate the vehicle and detain the occupants associated with the vehicle. These occupants were eventually arrested for the armed robbery.
I. Statistics and information about public records act requests regarding the relevant subject surveillance technology, including response rates
There are no existing or newly opened public records requests relating to the technology.
J. Total annual costs for the surveillance technology, including personnel and other ongoing costs, and what source of funding will fund the technology in the coming year
Tables below provide costing data from the current SoundThinking CrimeTracer contract.
K. Any requested modifications to the Surveillance Use Policy and a detailed basis for the request
No requests for changes at this time.