BPD agreements with UASI, NCRIC

Occupy Berkeley
For Consideration: Berkeley Police Dept agreement with UASI (Urban Areas Security Initiative) and NCRIC (Northern California Regional Intelligence Center)

Occupy Berkeley Proposition: Both the UASI and NCRIC agreements have been misrepresented to the city council and to the public in general.  Important aspects of the agreements are missing from their respective written presentations.  Given the secrecy related to the agreements, and the potential for misuse, both agreements should be cancelled.  Further use of the USAI and NCRIC programs should be approved on a case by case basis.  Cancelling the agreements does not preclude the Berkeley PD from participating in approved training programs or prevent the BPD from reporting to NCRIC activity which is legitimately screened and determined to be 'terror' related.

As approved by Berkeley city council in 2010, the UASI agreement is defined by the following:
[source: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2012/09Sep/Documents/2012-09-18_Item_10a_Consideration_of_Revisions_-_Att_2_Ex_A.aspx]

"The Department of Homeland Security manages the UASI Program
a grant funds program supported via the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). The funds are provided to state and
local agencies to support development and implementation of
homeland security-related operations/activities.
The Police Department has in force grant agreements that support
annual regional preparedness training programs and emergency
response equipment acquisitions.
Rationale:
The Police Department’s relationship with the regional affiliate (Bay
Area UASI) of this Federal agency promotes public safety and
serves the law enforcement mission. It facilitates local and regional
preparedness and responses to disasters and acts of violence."

Referencing to "FEMA", "emergency response", "emergency response equipment", "disaster response" the agreement glances over the militarized Urban Shield training program, and leaves out the kind of counter-protest operations that have been used against the Occupy movement including the utilization of specialized/armored vehicles, weaponized sound-systems, tear gas, and flash-bang grenades.  The UC Berkeley police recently attempted to procure an armored military vehicle with co-ownership by the Berkeley police.  Protests shut down the process of obtaining the vehicle.

The NCRIC agreement is too vague in that the Berkeley police can engage in intelligence gathering of anyone who has committed a crime or is thought to be planning a crime.  There is no differential between politic activity (temporarily blocking a street or shutting down a bank) and 'terror'-related activity.  The revelation of the TrapWire program, as well as planned development of a federal facial recognition database, reveal intelligence gathering methods which have no true measures to protect privacy rights.  Online intelligence gathering could soon be deepened with a program such as CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) or an executive order from the White House, further opening emails, search results and browsing history open to government scrutiny.  Biometrics is also becoming a standard for intelligence gathering.   For traffic violations, it is becoming more common for police agencies to take fingerprints of drivers.  It is becoming more common for police/sheriff agencies to take DNA samples from individuals who are merely suspected of crimes, but are not proven guilty.  The Oakland Police department falsely arrested protesters at the Oakland YMCA; even though the staff of the YMCA allowed protesters to enter the building [and caused to damage or disruption], those inside were forced to DNA swabs.

There is no transparency on how information is collected, shared, and stored.  One transferred to NCRIC, there is no explanation as to how the information is used, and by whom.  Databases are also subject to hacking.  Personal information stored by government agencies could be accessed by cyber-criminals for the purposes of identity theft, blackmail, or theft of assets.