MA- Gang database going online in January

11-30-2008 Massachusetts:

It’s about to get a lot harder to be a gang member.

A new statewide computer tracking system called Mass Gangs is going online the first week of January and will be used by every law enforcement agency in the state.

The program, which has similarities to the state’s online Registry of Motor Vehicles database, is funded by a $2 million grant from the federal Department of Bureau and Justice Assistance.

Instead of running a license number through the computer and coming back with only a driver’s history or criminal record, police can use the Mass Gangs system to view a suspect’s gang affiliations, pictures of gang tattoos and other photos linked to gang activity, such as graffiti. It also enables local police departments to better share information about gang-related crime.

Officials say Mass Gangs is free to cities and towns because it is federally funded. It is simply a Web browser that is accessible on all police station computers and police car laptops.

-But, not available to the general public. Isn't that how sex offender registries started?

Kurt Wood, executive director of the state Criminal History Systems Board who will oversee the intelligence program from his Chelsea office, says the concept of Mass Gangs arose after local police departments spoke about the importance of intelligence sharing.

“Major city police chiefs and gang investigators who do the work on a daily basis said we need to get an application together,” Wood said. “There’s no need to not share this information on a more efficient basis.”

Even though local police share gang intelligence with each other, oftentimes certain agencies are unintentionally left out of the loop, officials say.

“We have Lynn police sharing information with themselves but not Revere, for example,” Wood said. “Boston may have the same issues that Lynn does but you would never know.”

Wood says there is certain criteria law enforcement must follow in order to place a person’s information into the Mass Gangs system. A scorecard is used to rank each person based on how many pieces of evidence links him or her to a gang.
If a criminal arrest is linked to gang activity or a suspect admits to police or prison officials he is in a gang, the person’s information will likely be placed into the database.

“We don’t just put somebody in there because they’ve been observed with someone in a gang,” Wood said. “They have to qualify.”

Tracy Varano, director of planning and projects for the Criminal History Systems Board, says Mass Gangs must adhere to code federal regulation 23, the federal rules on government intelligence systems.

The program will undergo a review at least every five years, she said.

“Mass Gangs is an intelligence system, therefore we’re complying with those regulations,” Varano said. “Information has to go through a periodic review to make sure it meets the standards.”

One way Mass Gangs would maintain its integrity is by assessing everyone placed into the system every five years. If a person in the system has no criminal activity and police don’t suspect he is still in a gang, then his information gets removed from the database.

“If there is no update to his record and no further activity, that record will automatically be purged from the system in five years,” Wood said. “In order to stay in the system an action has to be taken by a police officer to attest the person is still involved in gang activity and it is documented. Then that five-year period starts over again.”

Once the final officers are trained on how to use the program, it is scheduled to be up and running Jan. 6. ..News Source.. by Dan O’Brien/The Daily Item