Bill No. 35-0131 would establish a real-time crime center within the Virgin Islands Police Department and appropriate $2.5 million to the department. Bill sponsor Sen. Diane Capeheart described the center as crucial to the success of "technology-driven policing."
"We need a centralized group to manage the technology, a dedicated unit to manage this crime-fighting infrastructure," she said before asking for her colleagues' support.
V.I. Police Department Commissioner Ray Martinez described the center — also known as an RTCC — as a system which will allow officers to quickly access and disseminate information from various law enforcement databases.
"Each individual and each place has a relevant history," he said. "For example, individuals may have previous arrests and outstanding warrants, and geographic areas have unique crime rates and trends."
That information might be stored in different or slow-to-access locations, he said.
V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency Director Daryl Jaschen expressed support for the bill but cautioned lawmakers on two key points.
Jaschen said standard operating procedures for the center must be developed for each component of the RTCC, to include information regarding how the center's operators handle Freedom of Information Act requests, the retention of data and protections to ensure that the system is being used in a constitutional manner.
Jaschen also expressed doubt that $2.5 million would be enough to establish an RTCC in both the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John districts and recommended that lawmakers review the costs of establishing and operating the centers over a five-year period.
Several committee members, including At-Large Sen. Angel Bolques Jr. and Sen. Ray Fonseca, expressed support for the bill but asked about the risk of infringing on Virgin Islanders' civil liberties. Bolques specifically asked about the implementation of facial recognition technology.
Martinez said VIPD already has access to facial recognition but it has not been used while investigating any cases, citing ongoing court cases on the continent which have questioned the use of facial recognition by law enforcement.
Committee Chair and Senate Majority Leader Kenneth Gittens told testifiers he saw the need for an RTCC but the project required more review — including by the Finance Committee — and expressed concern over hiring staff.
"I just want to make sure that we're just not biting more than we can chew," he said.
In the morning, lawmakers held a bill in committee. Bill No. 35-0086 seeks to amend the V.I. Code to require background checks for IT personnel, employees of the Information Technology Bureau and any government employee who handles classified information.
Department heads who gave testimony either took no position on the proposed legislation because their agencies already conduct background checks or stated that they agreed with the spirit of the bill but felt that it required more specific language.
BIT Chief Technology Officer Mark Bough recommended that background checks be conducted by human resources departments and said the bill needed to establish "clear protocols regarding the actions to be taken in the event of a positive or negative background check."
"For instance: if an applicant's background check is unsatisfactory, there should be defined consequences and procedures — including provisions for existing employees," he said.
"Drawing from the federal government's model, which tailors background checks according to job roles, could serve as a valuable reference in structuring our approach effectively."
The bill's sponsor, Senate Minority Leader Dwayne DeGraff, agreed with the decision to hold the bill but expressed hope that it would be worked on and amended quickly. Gittens assured him that the bill would not languish in committee.
"The bill is an important piece of legislation, but I am not in support of just shuttling it through until we can get the proper amendments done," he said.
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