| Wait, wait, it gets worse.
You could have been in a bed-ridden coma for twenty years and still qualify to be in GangNet under this rule:
6. Name is on a gang document, hit list or gang-related graffiti.
If a known gang has public phone book at wherever they hang out, that could qualify all of us.
Just to be complete, to qualify for Sheriff Fletcher's gang pointer database, one only has to be 14 years old and meet just one of these 10 criteria.
1. Admits gang membership or association.
2. Is observed to associate on a regular basis with known gang members.
3. Has tattoos indicating gang membership.
4. Wears gang symbols to identify with a specific gang.
5. Is in a photograph with known gang members and/or using gang-related hand signs .
6. Name is on a gang document, hit list or gang-related graffiti.
7. Is identified as a gang member by a reliable source.
8. Is arrested in the company of identified gang members or associates.
9. Corresponds with known gang members or writes and/or receives correspondence about gang activities.
10. Writes about gangs (graffiti) on walls, books and paper.
So what is the big deal? Why should you care if you or anyone can be easily added to Sheriff Fletchers GangNet database? This database has been used to deny gun permits and direct police activity. The exact reach of the data of this GangNet database is unclear, since it usually takes expensive court cases to find out that this database is cause.
Shelton applied for a permit to carry a handgun March 24.
The Ramsey County sheriff's of fice denied the permit in an April 21 letter, citing, among other reasons: "a domestic in 2004 and your inclusion in the criminal gang investigative data system."
The gang accusation shocked Shelton, who has never been convicted of more than a traffic offense, and his father, James Shelton Sr.
"I said, 'They think you're a gang member,' " said the elder Shelton, a Metro State professor active in the community. "I was more upset about that than the gun denial. How many other people's kids are on there and don't know? We would have never known if he hadn't applied for a permit to carry."
Shelton appealed in an April 28 letter to Fletcher.
He wrote that he was arrested as a juvenile in the "domestic," but "I was never prosecuted, I was never charged, I was never convicted." Court records confirm this.
He continued to say that he'd never been a gang member.
The elder Shelton, formerly president of the St. Paul Urban League and St. Paul NAACP, spoke with a sergeant in the St. Paul police gang unit, who told him they had a picture of the younger Shelton "with some gang members," the letter said.
The sheriff's office denied Shelton's appeal in a May 12 letter.
One of the 10 criteria for the Pointer File and GangNet is being in a photo with known gang members. The data in the system is confidential, so Fletcher said he couldn't comment about whether Shelton is in GangNet.
But because the younger Shelton does not have fel ony or gross misdemeanor convictions and a photo was mentioned, it seems his name was entered into GangNet, not the Pointer File.
The sheriff's office uses information about whether an applicant is in GangNet to determine if that person is a substantial risk under Minnesota's handgun carry permit law, Fletcher said.
Wait, wait, it gets worse.
The data is supposed to be only in the database for ten years, yet there doesn't seem to be a clear way that it is removed. The audit appears to check data against individual files, not against real facts. But how would one know if bad data is being kept? There is no notification. Sheriff Fletcher maintains that the data is "confidential" - meaning secret, not transparent and hard to access. Most people have only found out after expensive court cases. This is just another case of punishment without any due process of law.
Wait, wait, it could get even worse.
The FBI has been asking Minnesota to take away our ability to have transparent data so the FBI keep a database of secret data on "terrorist" activities. Remember that law enforcement has qualified any protest as low level terrorism.
Our best defense is to stay vigilant and keep electing good people like State Senato Mee Moua, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, who actively leading committee investigations into gang related data. Recently community groups have also been meeting.
And the "punishment before due process" nature of Sheriff Fletcher's GangNet database is just one more reason that Sheriff Fletcher should not be re-elected Sheriff. Since Ramsey county has an elected Sheriff, it is up to us voters to do his performance review!
Note that referenced article has rolled off the website, which is now only available through special archive services. I do have a full copy that I not reproducing due to fair use. Mara H. Gottfried and the Pioneer Press do deserve credit for a great article, that I wish was more publicly available.
Update:
A friend of mine already challenged me on how to fix the database without destroying its usefulness, here are my suggestions:
1) all data is public and transparent
2) all data is challengeable, with an easy inexpensive way to administratively remove incorrect data, challenge is automatically entered pending administrative resolution
3) people must be notified once a year if they are in active status
4) an automatic "decay" is put on the data depending on quality, quantity and timeliness, so that there is an automatic path to inactive status
5) data is maintained by the state not just a local enforcement group, accessible by lawfully limited number of people for a list of lawfully limited uses, with a much better list of lawfully determined criteria
6) a disclaimer is displayed with all data that this database is only an indicator of "possible" gang connections.
7) Once a year, three percent of the database is selected randomly and checked for factual correctness, by a separate agency. If the error rate is found to be over 5%, then the whole database is checked for factual correctness. |
