Vallejo, Calif., Discusses Privacy Policy and Stingrays

(TNS) — Perhaps the most anticipated agenda item for Tuesday's Vallejo, Calif., City Council meeting is the discussion of the usage and privacy policy regarding the city's purchase of cellphone site simulator technology.

The Vallejo Police Department would like to adopt the technology in order to track and identify people via their cell phones.

Site simulators mimic cell towers and collect "pings" from phones in order to help pinpoint the location of users. The city bought the technology earlier this year for $766,000.

However the simulators, known colloquially as "stingrays," were purchased prior to the city developing a use and privacy policy, prompting the civil liberties rights group Oakland Privacy to file suit in May, asserting that the council violated state law by doing so.

The ACLU of Northern California is also taking issue with the technology, sending out a text to some Vallejo residents on Oct. 22 describing Vallejo's stingray as "one of the most powerful and controversial surveillance technologies available to police" and seeking the prohibition of its use.

This agenda item was initially on the Oct. 13 roster but the city pushed it up to this evening in order to give the public and other groups more time to review the policy.

The regular meeting will begin with a presentation from the Solano Anti-Trafficking Coalition about its latest project. Members will also discuss the proposed acquisition of a grant to study the infrastructure capabilities of Mare Island in order to "serve as a foundational document for future development of the island."

In addition to those items, the council is expected to officially accept a contract with proposed City Attorney Veronica Nebb.

Something that is not on the agenda but may be an issue will be people calling in during the community comment portion of the meeting with opinions about Councilmember and mayor candidate Hakeem Brown, who is under fire for incidents of domestic violence in his past.

A Change.org petition has been circling for several weeks demanding that Brown resign and has more than 2500 signatures so far.

Fellow Councilman Pippen Dew has withdrawn her endorsement of Brown, as well as various other organizations such as the Solano County Democratic Party and the union IBEW 1245.

The council will meet Tuesday, first in a closed session at 5 p.m. and then in a regular meeting beginning at 7.

It can be viewed live via Zoom by visiting the council's page on the City of Vallejo website, at cityofvallejo.net.

(c)2020 Times-Herald (Vallejo, Calif.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.