Report 2015-130 Recommendation 30 Responses

Report 2015-130: The CalGang Criminal Intelligence System: As the Result of Its Weak Oversight Structure, It Contains Questionable Information That May Violate Individuals' Privacy Rights (Release Date: August 2016)

Recommendation #30 To: Sonoma County Sheriff's Office

Until Sonoma County Sheriff's Office receives further direction from the board, the committee, or Justice, it should address the specific deficiencies we found by developing or modifying as necessary all its policies and procedures related to CalGang to ensure they align with state law, CalGang policy, the federal regulations, and the state guidelines. In particular, the agency should implement appropriate policies and procedures for entering gangs; performing supervisory reviews of gang and gang member entries; performing periodic CalGang record reviews; sharing CalGang information; and complying with juvenile notification requirements. The agency should complete this recommendation by March 31, 2017.

6-Month Agency Response

As of December 31, 2016, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office terminated from CalGang as a user and node administrator. All Sheriff's Office records have been purged from CalGang. Although the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office believes that the CalGang database is a valuable and successful tool in combating gang related crimes, we simply cannot continue to provide unlimited resources towards meeting the recommendations and new legal requirements.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Will Not Implement

As indicated in the Sheriff Office's response, it terminated its use of CalGang.


60-Day Agency Response

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office is working with the California Gang Node Advisory Committee (CGNAC) and the CalGang Executive Board (CEB). CalGangŪ Policy is a matter of system-wide import and should come from the CalGang Executive Board so all individual agencies policies and procedures are consistent. A sub-committee was formed to discuss implementation procedures. By the next recommendation update, we hope to have a comprehensive plan.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending


All Recommendations in 2015-130

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.