(PLEASANTON, Calif.) – Pleasanton's City Council heard a wide range of public comments during its July 7 meeting, but two speakers drew particular attention for raising issues involving public safety, government transparency and legal compliance.
The first speaker, Johnny Roland, thanked the council for initiating communication with Dublin, Livermore and Alameda County regarding the future of the former Federal Correctional Institution Dublin(FCI Dublin).
Photo Credit: Google Earth
The council directed staff to gather additional information about the facility during its June 16 meeting after concerns emerged that the former prison could potentially be repurposed as an immigration detention facility.
Roland told the council he has lived in Pleasanton since 2000, and that this was his first council meeting he had ever attended.
“[This] bothers me enough to come down and attend a city council meeting for the first time in 26 years. And I will be following up and attending because I'm really interested to see where this goes and what the city council of Pleasanton decides to do regarding this.”
Photo Credit: https://pleasantonca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/594/media
Following Roland's comment, city staff referenced a memorandum recently received by Pleasanton summarizing actions taken by neighboring jurisdictions and federal agencies regarding the former prison.
According to the memo, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution in April opposing the reopening of the Dublin FCI for any correctional operations.
The memo also stated that the City of Dublin has maintained ongoing communication with the federal government, including sending letters to both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons expressing its opposition to using the facility as an immigration detention center. Dublin previously adopted a resolution in December formally opposing such a proposal.
According to the memo, neither DHS nor the Bureau has confirmed any plans to use FCI Dublin as an immigration detention facility.
The memo further noted that the City of Dublin received a letter from DHS in March explaining that FCI Dublin was not included in the existing agreement that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use certain Bureau of Prisons facilities for immigration detention.
The most recent activity at the site occurred in May, when the Bureau of Prisons conducted an environmental assessment on the property.
Later during the public comment period, Mike Katz-Lacabe, Director of Research for Oakland Privacy, raised concerns regarding the Pleasanton Police Department's use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Technology.
“As a result of a recent public records request, I discovered that the Pleasanton Police Department is illegally sharing license plate reader data with federal Border Patrol.”
Katz-Lacabe went on to explain that sharing license plate reader data with federal and out-of-state agencies became illegal in 2016 when SP 34 was signed into law.
According to him, there were multiple violations of this law that led the California Department of Justice to issue a bulletin reminding law enforcement of SP 34.
He also claimed that Pleasanton has been breaking another law.
Katz-Lacabe cited section 447.6 of the Pleasanton Police Department policy. He explained that it states that the police department must conduct audits of its Automated License Plate Reader system regularly.
He asserted that the Pleasanton Police Department was either failing to conduct these audits or was conducting them in a way that was not thorough enough to check if they were complying with state law.
Following the public comments, Mayor Jack Balch closed the public comment session, and Councilmember Julie Testa then invited Pleasanton Police Department Chief Tracy Avelar to respond.
Photo Credit: https://pleasantonca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/594/media
Avelar said she was unfamiliar with the specific allegations Katz-Lacabe referenced but told the council the department would review the matter.
" I don't know what he's talking about, but we'll definitely look into it."
Neither the City Council nor the police department took any formal action on either issue during the meeting. Staff indicated that the city will continue monitoring developments involving the future of FCI Dublin, while Chief Avelar said the department would examine the concerns raised regarding its ALPR data-sharing practices.
To add or correct any information in this report, please contact me at madison.v@lead4earth.org.
0
0
Comments