"Oakland leaders approved a $140,000 contract last week between OPD and an Israeli surveillance company, Cellebrite, which provides tools that can unlock cellphones and extract and analyze their data. Oakland police have used Cellebrite since 2014 for criminal investigations and to monitor how officers are using department-issued devices. Two years ago, the council approved a newer version of Cellebrite that "dramatically expanded" OPD's digital evidence capabilities, according to a staff report recently shared with the council. City officials agreed to approve a one-year extension of this version of Cellebrite. The existing contract is supposed to expire in June."
"The council waived some of Oakland's contracting rules to approve the contract, including competitive bidding. But city officials did not seek a waiver for Oakland's "Sanctuary City Contracting and Investment Ordinance." Since 2019, this law has barred Oakland from doing business with companies that work with federal immigration agencies by providing "services or goods for data collection or immigration detention facilities." This applies to new contracts as well as amendments or extensions to existing contracts. The ordinance also requires contractors to certify that they do not provide prohibited services to immigration agencies."
"It's unclear if Oakland has waived the law to work with a company. Last year, city officials pulled a proposed security services contract with Allied Universal after The Oaklandside reported that one of the company's subsidiary firms has contracts with ICE to provide armed detention officers transportation services. In response to questions from The Oaklandside, OPD officials said the city attorney had reviewed the contract and determined that Oakland's sanctuary city law does not apply. The ordinance restricts the city from contracting with companies that provide services related to extreme vetting, data brokering, and detention facilit"
Oakland leaders approved a $140,000 contract between the Oakland Police Department and Cellebrite, an Israeli surveillance company that unlocks cellphones and extracts and analyzes their data. OPD has used Cellebrite since 2014 for criminal investigations and for monitoring how officers use department-issued devices. Two years ago, the city approved a newer Cellebrite version that expanded digital evidence capabilities, and officials agreed to extend that version for one year. The contract was approved with waivers of some contracting rules, including competitive bidding, but officials did not seek a waiver of Oakland’s Sanctuary City Contracting and Investment Ordinance. Since 2019, the ordinance bars contracts with companies that provide services or goods for data collection or immigration detention facilities connected to federal immigration agencies, and requires contractor certification. It remains unclear whether the sanctuary law was waived for this contract.
#oakland-police-department #cellebrite #cellphone-forensics #sanctuary-city-contracting #surveillance-and-data-extraction
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