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Bill seeking to ban gang databases is opposed by cops
- Article by: CHAO XIONG , Star Tribune
- Updated: March 18, 2010 - 9:48 PM
State Sen. Mee Moua said computerized databases invade privacy and profile innocent people.
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A bill by state Sen. Mee Moua that bans computerized databases tracking people in or affiliated with gangs is drawing criticism from law enforcement officials, who say it endangers officers and the public.
"This will put us back into pre-computer Stone Ages of law enforcement," Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Thursday.
Moua said she has privacy concerns, and noted that people can't find out if they're in either the Ramsey County-run GangNet or state-run Gang Pointer File databases. The databases might list people who aren't knowingly associating with gang members or people who haven't committed crimes, Moua said.
"There's just something not fundamentally right about that," she said.
Moua introduced the amended bill Tuesday in the Judiciary Committee, which she chairs, and it passed, sending it to the Committee on State and Local Government Options and Oversight on Friday morning.
Law enforcement officials quickly jumped on the bill, and met with Moua Thursday.
Moua's original amendment called for computerized databases to end this year if the bill is passed. Law enforcement officials persuaded her to give them a year to comply.
Fletcher said the bill is bad news. "They couldn't possibly tie our hands more," he said.
Officers need quick access to databases to determine if someone they've stopped is dangerous, and for investigating the back-and-forth nature of gang violence, he said.
In the past six months, 42 law enforcement agencies accessed the GangNet database 5,551 times, he said.
Moua said she wants to work on better solutions.
"It's not my intention to leave law enforcement with a gap in the tools they need to do their work," she said.
Moua said no one has come forward to her office saying they were wrongfully profiled in the databases.
Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391
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