Surveillance Technology Impact Reports

• Digital Evidence Management System, a new Surveillance Technology requested by the Emergency Communications Department. • IP Address Collection Platforms, existing Surveillance Technology previously reported to the Council in two separate STIRs from the Information Technology Department. (See “Checkpoint Firewall” and “Web server access and error logging” STIRs submitted at the

December 9, 2019 Council Meeting.) This new STIR clarifies the use of IP Address

Collection Platforms throughout the City. • Atlas RMV Portal, existing Surveillance Technology previously reported to the Council in two separate STIRs from the Finance Department and the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department. (See “Atlas Database (RMV)” and “ATLAS: Massachusetts

RMV Website Portal” STIRs submitted at the December 9, 2019 Council Meeting.) This

new STIR clarifies the use of the Atlas RMV Portal throughout the City and incorporates the Assessing Department’s use of the Portal.

In a separate communication, I will also submit the following to the City Council for review and discussion at the February 24, 2020 Council Meeting:

• Revised Surveillance Technology Impact Reports (“STIRs”), describing Surveillance Technologies which are subject to the Ordinance, which require City Council approval.

The original STIRs were submitted to the City Council at the December 9, 2019 Council Meeting or to the Public Safety Committee at a January 22, 2020 committee meeting and were reviewed and discussed at the January 22, 2020 committee meeting. The revised STIRs will address feedback from the Public Safety Committee. • Summary of STIRs submitted to the City Council during the past year. The Summary of STIRs will include a summary of all STIRs submitted to the City Council to date, including what action the City Council took on same, and reference all revised STIRs for ease of review by the Council.

Those STIRs previously submitted to the City Council at the December 9, 2019 Council

Meeting or to the Public Safety Committee at a January 22, 2020 committee meeting, were discussed in detail at the January 22, 2020 Public Safety Committee meeting and referred to the City Council by the Public Safety Committee with a recommendation that they be approved by the City Council.

I look forward to reviewing these documents in detail with you at the February 24, 2020 City Council meeting and to answering any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Louis A. DePasquale

City Manager

Enclosures

Emergency Communications Department

Walter Heffernan/Christina Giacobbe

2/24/2020

Digital Evidence Mangement System

• A Digital Evidence Management System is similar to a document management solution. The Digital Evidence Management System is a repository of currently collected data such as 911 calls, Police Records Management System, Evidence,

Computer Aided Dispatch, Crime Scene Photos, Interview Room Recordings, Lab

Reports and Shot Spotter data.

• The purpose of this technology is to provide a centralized storage location for the existing data from our current disparate systems in the Emergency Communications and Police Departments and store it in one central repository to facilitate the management of investigations and digital evidence in a secure cloud-based system for authorized users.

This technology will store copies of existing protected Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) information and will be compliant as required by the CJIS security requirements for federal, state and local governments. Additionally, this technology will provide a secure electronic connection to the Cambridge Police Department’s Court Prosecutors Office and the District Attorney’s Office. This technology will automate the delivery of documentation that is currently required by the court.

Currently, there are over 4,000 cases assigned annually that we process for court.

• This technology also provides a secure automated evidence upload feature for citizens who voluntarily provide evidence to the police department. For example, a witness of a crime may have a photo of a car and license plate that fled the scene. This information could be uploaded to increase solvability factors as well as increased citizen participation. In addition, business owners could voluntarily register their closed-circuit television systems through the technology, so that the Police Department does not have to canvas the neighborhood to locate these devices.

• The impact of this technology on the departments will increase business operations and effective data collection. This will also reduce the risk of errors in manual data gathering and therefore provide more effective evidence collection. In addition, there

will be a reduction in staff resources for data collection from various units and departments.

• The current process for gathering data is very manual and labor intensive. The Police and Emergency Communications Department receive requests daily from the Middlesex Attorney’s Office for all existing discoverable information for related cases prior to the initial court date. They use this information to properly assess the facts of the case and determine prosecution. This technology will automate the process reducing the manual effort of pulling this information, transporting case files and providing copies of 911 calls for review via discs.

• The purpose of a Digital Evidence Management System is to consolidate data from siloed applications and data sources. The technology provides an automated solution for gathering evidence of violations of any criminal or civil law, administrative actions and collected records such as 911 audio, Police Records Management System, Evidence, and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD). In addition, the technology provides secure connection to transfer required case evidence to the court.

• The technology also provides a secure connection for residents and registered business owners to upload case evidence including pictures and videos. This application allows the police department to communicate with residents effectively and efficiently in obtaining additional information that will assist in solving crimes.

• The technology will be deployed in the data center at 125 6th Street so that it can connect to the existing systems that support the Police Department and Emergency Communications.

• If a cloud-based solution is chosen, then it will be deployed to both 125 6th Street data center and the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud. Microsoft Azure Government Cloud is a commercial infrastructure cloud platform contractually committed to meeting the CJIS security requirements for federal, state and local governments. It will then transmit the data over Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections that will be configured to meet the CJIS security requirements. This will be used to send and receive data from court and residents and/or registered businesses.

• The target date for procuring this technology is spring 2020.