Sheriff wins OK of cell-phone tracker

The Santa Clara County sheriff and a member of the Board of Supervisors clashed Tuesday before the board approved the purchase of a controversial mobile phone tracking device.

The board voted 4 to 1 for a motion to draw on a state grant to buy the mobile phone triangulation system but it cannot become operational until two board committees hold hearings and develop a policy for how the Sheriff’s Office may use it.

Sheriff Laurie Smith testified before the board in favor of the $502,889 mobile phone triangulation system to assist deputies in pinpointing a cellular phone held by people such as wanted criminals, suspects or children and adults at risk.

In the case of criminals, the system, known as Hailstorm and manufactured by Florida-based Harris Corp., would be used to locate the phones of a person only after a warrant is issued by a judge and within three days in case it had to be used in an emergency, Smith said.

The sheriff’s office discussed the system with the county’s Anti-Terrorism Approval Authority, which approved its funding from a state grant in 2013 and had further sessions on it in July 2014, October 2014 and last January, Smith said.

The board itself on Jan. 14, 2014 approved the grant funding, from California’s State Homeland Security Grant Program, to purchase it in full, she said.

But Supervisor Joe Simitian, who has been outspoken on privacy issues while on the board, complained that supervisors never had a full discussion about a proposed mobile triangulation-tracking device employed by the county.

He repeatedly asked if the sheriff’s office had expressly told the board that the system was the triangulation device and Smith conceded it had not.

“I don’t want to sound like we are arguing,” Smith said.

“We are arguing, sheriff,” Simitian replied.

Under questioning from Simitian, Smith admitted her office only had a draft policy on how it intended to use the Harris device and that she did not really know how it worked.

Smith told Simitian that she felt as though he was questioning her as a lawyer would a witness.

Simitian said that from what he had read about the Harris triangulation system, it “mimics a cell tower” to locate individuals and he said he feared it potentially could compromise public privacy and the rights of citizens to due process of law, especially by those who act irresponsibly within law enforcement.

“There are always a few bad apples,” he said.

The sheriff’s office had not yet prepared a policy on the use of the Harris system, did not put it up to enough scrutiny with the board or the community and held a 30-minute public forum on it only last Friday, Simitian said.

“Are we mindful of the public’s due process rights? The answer is, not by a long shot,” he said.

Simitian offered a motion to send the proposed procurement of the system back to staff, but it was defeated for a lack of a second.

Smith said the sheriff’s office needed the board’s approval to proceed with the process of buying the Harris system by May 15 and accept delivery of it by May 30 or it would lose the state funding.

Supervisor Mike Wasserman, while acknowledging Simitian’s reservations about it, spoke in favor of the system for ensuring public safety.

“It could be a valuable asset for children and at-risk people,” Wasserman said.

Wasserman presented a motion to approve the procurement but not the implementation of the system until a policy is discussed and approved by two board committees, the finance and government operations committee and the public safety and government committee, before it is brought to the full board.

He said he wanted the policy to include the requirement that the triangulation device would not be used to monitor or eavesdrop on people.

Wasserman’s motion passed 4 to 1 with Simitian opposed.

Smith said that the San Jose Police Department has an earlier version of the triangulation system but does not permit the sheriff’s office to use it.

The $42,150 annual cost to operate the Harris system once it is in operation would be covered by the sheriff’s office, she said.

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