Oakland, CA—California’s criminal gang intelligence database, known as CalGang, is causing severe civil rights violations of suspected gang members who are unjustly targeted, some just by the color of their clothing, and without physical evidence. The database was created to combat organized crime by tracking alleged gang members and associates. However, the rise of citizens being falsely charged and tried as culpable gang members, calls attention to the pressing need to reform the legal frameworks that enable guilt by association, a lack of accountability, and a failure to protect civil liberties. This call for reform has earned the CalGang system and California’s gang laws—especially Penal Code Section 182.5., the dishonor of the 15th California Golden Fleece® Award, a series of in-depth reports from the Independent Institute that expose the waste, fraud, and abuse in California.

“We recommend commonsense reforms to both CalGang and the California Penal Code that would safeguard civil liberties without impairing law enforcement’s counter-gang intelligence sharing,” said Jonathan Hofer (Independent Institute Policy Research Associate), one of the authors of the report titled “Guilt by Association: How California’s CalGang Database and State Gang Laws Jeopardize Civil Liberties.”

“Gang violence in California is a serious problem and deserves serious solutions. CalGang is not such a solution,” says Hofer. “The consequences of misidentifying someone as a gang member are severe when investigative errors result in erroneous prosecutions,” he adds.

California’s approach to criminal street gangs over the past 30 years has failed to effectively counter gangs, which appear immune to elements of traditional policing.

Such databases have not been proven successful in reducing gang-related crime in California or other states, the report asserts. Recommendations for reducing the number of documented errors in these law enforcement databases are included by the authors.

Author Biographies: Jonathan Hofer is a policy research associate at the Independent Institute. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. He has written extensively on both California and national public policy issues. His research focuses on privacy policies, local surveillance, and the impact of emerging technologies on civil liberties. He is the author of The Pitfalls of Law Enforcement License Plate Readers in California and Safeguards to Protect the Public and Automated License Plate Readers: A Study in Failure.

Jonathan Fuentes is an Independent Institute contributor and a former senior paralegal for a national employment law firm in Washington, DC. His research interests include methods of constitutional interpretation, the separation of powers, and the history of the US Supreme Court. He earned a B.A. in political science and history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Read the entire report here.

For more information, or to interview Jonathan Hofer, contact Robert Ade, [email protected], or (510) 635-3690.

***

INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428

The Independent Institute is a non-profit, public policy, research, and educational organization that promotes the power of independent thinking to boldly advance peaceful, prosperous, and free societies grounded in a commitment to human worth and dignity.
For more information, visit Independent.org.