(Sept. 21, 2018, 3:05 p.m.) -- The City of Long Beach announced today (Sept. 21) that will undertake an "independent outside review" by some presently unidentified firm of LBPD's use of the messaging application "Tiger Connect" that automatically deletes and makes unrecoverable texts and other communications. In a release, the City said the the City Manager in partnership with the City Attorney initiated the review that "will consist of an outside firm hired to independently review the use of the messaging application within the Long Beach Police Department." The story broke on Sept. 18, published online by The Beachcomber and Al Jazeera.
At the same time, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has indicated (without comment) that the matter "is under review the District Attorney's Justice System Integrity Division." In carefully worded statements in a City release today (Sept. 21), Mayor Robert Garcia and City Manager Pat West stated: "I applaud the Chief's decision to immediately discontinue use of the messaging application and strongly support the initiation of this independent review to understand how the system was used and to ensure that the City is complying with all applicable laws," said Mayor Garcia. "Initiation of an outside review is the best course of action to fully review the facts of this matter and provide an independent, neutral review of this complex issue," said City Manager West. [Scroll down for further.] |
The City's release said the review will include, but not be limited to:
"The outside review will be done in conjunction with the City Attorney's Office, and the results will be made available to the public to the extent allowable under California State law," the City release said, and added that "further information regarding this matter will be available after the review has been completed" [the latter leaving unclear if additional information will be released in the interim.] "We have discussed this with our City partners and agree with this review and will cooperate fully," said LBPD Chief Robert Luna in the Sept. 21 release. The City Sept. 21 release also indicated that "the first purchase order for the message-deleting app originated on June 16, 2014 and consisted of a purchase order for $9,888 that has been renewed each year for the past four years. Under the City’s purchasing policies, purchases under $25,000 are approved at a department level." During this period, LBPD's Chief was now LASD Sheriff Jim McDonnell, and now-Chief Luna was among several LBPD Deputy Chiefs with additional command staff below. Consistent with the City's initial release (Sept. 18, reported here plus additional information), the City's Sept. 21 release said "use of the application began when the Police Department transitioned to iPhones, which did not have a built-in secure communication feature sufficient for the needs of the Department. The primary purpose of the Tiger Connect application was to allow for a continued means of transitory, immediate, and secure communications regarding operational and personnel matters. Police Department employees have been trained to and do document any exculpatory/discoverable evidence in a police report or other formal departmental communication. Of the 291 Police Department-issued mobile devices, the Tiger Connect texting application is installed on 145 mobile devices, including the mobile devices of Command Staff and specialized details such as Homicide and Internal Affairs. For reference, the Police Department has a total of 1,214 employees." The City has also created a web page for information and documents related to this issue at this link..
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