Ramsey County's GangNet database goes dark Monday

Ramsey County Sheriff Matt Bostrom's decision to end a controversial gang database run by his office could also cause a state-run database to go dark.

Bostrom decided to end GangNet because information in it was redundant, wasn't being updated, and because law enforcement officials weren't using the database. Monday is GangNet's last day.

"There was a consensus that there was a time it was helpful, but it wasn't helpful in the last year," Bostrom said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Gang Pointer File created its database solely with information from GangNet, although Pointer has stricter criteria. Pointer purports to list only confirmed gang members, whereas GangNet also listed people who allegedly associated with gang members.

Dana Gotz, acting executive director of the BCA's Justice Information Services, said the end of GangNet leaves Pointer with a few options: Audit the remaining records and purge them, given that GangNet won't be around to verify the data, or leave the records alone until they are automatically purged after three years.

There are about 2,000 records in Pointer and about 9,000 names in GangNet. The latter boasted nearly 16,800 names just a few years ago before criticism led then-Sheriff Bob Fletcher to shave off thousands of names.

Fletcher started GangNet in 1998. Pointer came online nine years later.

GangNet critics said they were concerned with its accuracy, a lack of protocols for entering information, an absence of state oversight and an over-representation of minorities.

Nekima Levy-Pounds, an associate professor of law at the University of St. Thomas and director of the Community Justice Project, said GangNet "does not strike the proper balance between public safety and the public's right to privacy."

The Violent Crime Coordinating Council, established by the 2010 Legislature, is creating recommendations for how gang data should be maintained.

Eliminating GangNet will save 16 to 20 hours of work each week that employees spent maintaining the system, Bostrom said. Individual agencies maintain their own gang records, he noted.

"I think that it is important to our community that we do in fact pay attention to the most violent offenders," Bostrom said. "Some of them may not be gang members."

"GangNet has some value," said Maplewood Deputy Police Chief Dave Kvam. "We're also sympathetic to the sheriff's concerns about the finances used to run it, and the criticism associated with GangNet and who's in it and how it's audited."