Title
a. Approve and Authorize the County Administrative Officer to sign an Inter-Agency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the South Bay Information Sharing System (SBISS) South Bay Regional Node and the County of Monterey, Sheriff’s Office; and
b. Authorize the County Administrative Officer to sign additional amendments to the SBISS Interagency MOU where the amendments do not significantly change the scope of work and do not exceed the current annual cost of the agreement ($17,001.84) by more than ten percent (10%) or $1700.18, for an annual cost of $18,702.02 to the Sheriff’s Office.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and Authorize the County Administrative Officer to sign an Inter-Agency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the South Bay Information Sharing System (SBISS) South Bay Regional Node and the County of Monterey, Sheriff’s Office.
b. Authorize the County Administrative Officer to sign additional amendments to the SBISS Interagency MOU where the amendments do not significantly change the scope of work and do not exceed the current annual cost of the agreement ($17,001.84) by more than ten percent (10%) or $1,700.18, for an annual cost of $18,702.02 to the Sheriff’s Office.
DISCUSSION:
In Fiscal Year 2010, the Office of Homeland Security allocated funds to secure hardware and software for participating member agencies of the South Bay Information Sharing System (SBISS), South Bay Regional Node, for the purpose of sharing criminal justice data utilizing a software application known as “COPLINK”. Member agencies in the jurisdictional boundaries of the County of Monterey who are part of the network sign this MOU. Active data sharing began after the network was fully operational (2013) and criminal justice data is now being shared between Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. The Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff serves as lead agency for SBISS and handles all funding and MOU administrative issues. Grant funding from Homeland Security offset costs of this program from 2010 to 2015; the program is now funded by the participants. This is a renewal MOU - Monterey County joined the COPLINK network in 2010, as part of the original network.
COPLINK is governed by the South Bay Regional Node Board of Directors which is comprised of the Sheriffs of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties (or their alternates); the Police Chiefs of San Jose, Santa Cruz, Salinas, and Hollister (or their alternates) and member representatives chosen by the Police Chiefs Association for the cities listed above.
Each member has one vote and this body is charged with establishing and adopting bylaws and policies and sets policy for the use of the SBISS South Bay Regional Node.
The purpose of the COPLINK software is to allow for the collection and analysis of criminal justice data to include, but not be limited to, crime and miscellaneous report summaries, field interviews and contacts, vehicle accidents, arrest records, citations, arrest photos and other data collected by each member agency. COPLINK receives all this data from each agency and deposits it into a data repository. Each agency can access the data via an analytical tool to enhance performance of their daily enforcement duties, such as identifying subjects of interest to law enforcement, solving crimes, locating next of kin, or establishing relationships between persons of interest. All data is used exclusively by law enforcement agencies and is not available to the public. This data is considered confidential and all employees granted access to the data must sign paperwork acknowledging their responsibility to protect the data.
A copy of this MOU is on file with the Clerk of the Board.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has approved the MOU as to legal form; the County Information Technology Department has reviewed the technical components of the MOU and has given their approval. The Auditor Controller has reviewed the MOU for fiscal provisions. This agreement is being brought forth on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office as this Office is an active network participant, and has been since the inception of this network.
Monterey County Probation will not be participating in this MOU; contract language listed on pages 31 and 32 of the MOU allows for non-participation without alteration of the MOU. At their request, references to Monterey County Probation will be removed from the next MOU. The District Attorney is choosing not to enroll now but is leaving the option open to join later and will present their own board report, with supporting financing, if they decide to enroll in the future.
FINANCING:
Funding for the contract has been an ongoing part of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office since February 23, 2010 and costs were partially offset by grant funding until calendar year 2015. The current MOU cost of $17,001.84 has been included in the Fiscal Year 2016-17 baseline budget. There will be no increase in General Fund Contribution from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office as a result of this board action.
Prepared by: Jerry Teeter, Chief Deputy, Enforcement Bureau ext. 3801
Approved by: Steve Bernal, Sheriff /Coroner ext. 3725
Attachment: MOU- SBISS