The Real Purpose of Oakland's Surveillance Center

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May 7, 2013
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City leaders have argued that Oakland needs a massive surveillance system to combat violent crime, but internal documents reveal that city staffers are also focused on tracking political protesters.
By Darwin BondGraham and Ali Winston


Oakland's citywide surveillance system, the Domain Awareness Center, or DAC, gained national notoriety earlier this year when some city residents voiced strong concerns about the project's privacy and civil rights implications. City officials and supporters of the DAC have responded by contending that objections over privacy and civil rights issues are overblown and that the true purpose of the surveillance center is to help Oakland finally deal with its violent crime problem. But thousands of pages of emails, meeting minutes, and other public documents show that, behind closed doors, city staffers have not been focusing on how the DAC can lower Oakland's violent crime rate.

So what is the real purpose of the massive $10.9 million surveillance system? The records we examined show that the DAC is an open-ended project that would create a surveillance system that could watch the entire city and is designed to easily incorporate new high-tech features in the future. And one of the uses that has piqued the interest of city staffers is the deployment of the DAC to track political protesters and monitor large demonstrations.

Linda Lye, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, was alarmed when we showed her emails that revealed that the Oakland Police Department has already started using the DAC to keep tabs on people engaged in First Amendment activity. "The fact that the focus so far has been on political protests, rather than the violent crime that's impacting Oakland residents, is troubling, and telling about how the city plans to use the DAC," she said.

"Information is always fundamentally about control," she added. Once it's fully operational, the DAC will give Oakland officials an unprecedented ability to monitor peoples' movements, associations, and activities.

The Domain Awareness Center is being built in stages and will merge OPD's existing license-plate scanners and gunshot detectors with video feeds from hundreds of surveillance cameras — many already in place and some to be installed in the future by several different agencies throughout the city — into a central hub. Oakland police will monitor this "flood of data," as one DAC project presentation called it. Originally limited to monitoring the Port of Oakland, the DAC has since expanded to encompass the entire city.


The Oakland Privacy Working Group, an activist coalition opposed to the DAC, obtained thousands of pages of emails and other public records related to the project from the city via a California Public Records Act request. The privacy group then shared the documents — which cover the period from August 2012 through September 2013 — with us.

While the emails reveal a great deal about the DAC, they are also notable for what they do not talk about. Among the hundreds of messages sent and received by Oakland staffers and the city's contractor team responsible for building the DAC, there is no mention of robberies, shootings, or the 138 homicides that took place during the period of time covered by the records. City staffers do not discuss any studies pertaining to the use of surveillance cameras in combating crime, nor do they discuss how the Domain Awareness System could help OPD with its longstanding problems with solving violent crimes. In more than 3,000 pages of emails, the terms "murder," "homicide," "assault," "robbery," and "theft" are never mentioned.

The records also show that the Oakland City Council's attempt to rein in the features of the DAC that pose the most serious threats to civil liberties, and to craft a privacy and data retention policy, may be too little, too late. City staffers have apparently found a way to work around the intended policies of the council. Moreover, the documents reveal that, behind the scenes, the Oakland Police Department, despite its long and troubling record of violating people's civil rights, is in charge of designing the DAC and the policies that will govern its use.

Furthermore, records show that the DAC already has so-called "video analytic" capabilities. Video analytics include features like automated vehicle and pedestrian tracking, motion recognition, and a "virtual fence" that determines when people approach or attempt to breach fences surrounding Port of Oakland property. The documents also reveal that the DAC contractor, SAIC, now called Leidos Holdings, Inc., over-billed the City of Oakland by upwards of $160,000 by purchasing expensive software and gadgets that SAIC staff kept for themselves, and by filing invoices for work that wasn't done. Several Oakland staffers caught this and deducted the charges, but only after forcing SAIC to exhaustively account for labor, tools, and $94,000 in goods received for which there were no receipts provided.

It's unclear just how much of Oakland will be put under continuous, pervasive surveillance by OPD with the DAC, but internal city records show that plans to incorporate cameras inside Oakland's public schools and Oakland Housing Authority properties are very much alive. So, too, are plans to feed in surveillance footage from hundreds of other cameras already in place around the city through OPD's commercial camera lending program, local transit agencies, and a planned surveillance system the Downtown Oakland Association and the Lake Merritt Uptown District Association business improvement districts intend to build.

And cameras are just the beginning: Documents mention monitoring "social media," "web feeds," and "text messaging."


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Large surveillance centers are becoming increasingly common nationwide: They now exist in New York City; Chicago; Baltimore; Washington, DC; and Hudson County, New Jersey. Political leaders typically contend that such centers are necessary to combat terrorist threats and reduce crime.


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May 7, 2013
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#4
the only places that they havent installed surveillance tech is in peoples homes
thats the last step until this total surveillance regime of society is complete
True, but they kind of have through cell phones, landlines, internet, webcams, smart tvs, smart meters, PS, XBOX and Wii
 
Feb 2, 2006
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the sony regime claims that the ps4 wont spy on people for now. but when the regime comes out with something similar to kinect its spygame time. of course the public will buy the new gadget in bunches


every single electronic device has a camera or some other spy gadget built in. its not always obvious because spy cameras are now the size of a pin hole. im not sure if these cameras require a red light blinking to function
 
May 7, 2013
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#6
the sony regime claims that the ps4 wont spy on people for now. but when the regime comes out with something similar to kinect its spygame time. of course the public will buy the new gadget in bunches


every single electronic device has a camera or some other spy gadget built in. its not always obvious because spy cameras are now the size of a pin hole. im not sure if these cameras require a red light blinking to function
Yet people who use Live Chat are being recorded. No, a light is not required for the device to be activated, an led light is only an indicator and can be bypassed. Even if I had the ish, like 99% of the people that actually do, I am not interesting enough for them to give a shit about, that is not the point though.
 
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Jul 4, 2011
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they got way too many of them muthafuckas and they dont do shit cuz everyone knows to just go where there aint one.

That's the point though... They put the cameras on the streets with businesses so that all the crime gets pushed into the actual neighborhoods. Their excuse for not putting up cameras where people would actually benefit from having safer neighborhoods is that most of the crime happens on International, San Pablo, etc... really it's just another way to gentrify the city quicker. They'll do press releases about how effective the system is to get people from outside the neighborhoods to start hanging out over there and eventually higher-rent businesses will start showing up... That's when they'll put cameras in the neighborhoods because by that time people with money will start moving in. Between now and that point though those neighborhoods are going to get a lot worse for the regular residents... A lot more stray/mistake shootings and the police won't bother to respond to jack shit because the cameras didn't already do the work for them. The Deep East in particular is going to be affected real bad by this.

There's always ulterior motives to this type of shit.
 

Gas One

Moderator
May 24, 2006
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#10
That's the point though... They put the cameras on the streets with businesses so that all the crime gets pushed into the actual neighborhoods. Their excuse for not putting up cameras where people would actually benefit from having safer neighborhoods is that most of the crime happens on International, San Pablo, etc... really it's just another way to gentrify the city quicker. They'll do press releases about how effective the system is to get people from outside the neighborhoods to start hanging out over there and eventually higher-rent businesses will start showing up... That's when they'll put cameras in the neighborhoods because by that time people with money will start moving in. Between now and that point though those neighborhoods are going to get a lot worse for the regular residents... A lot more stray/mistake shootings and the police won't bother to respond to jack shit because the cameras didn't already do the work for them. The Deep East in particular is going to be affected real bad by this.

There's always ulterior motives to this type of shit.
^ thats real shit, props. and i know exactly what youre talking about cuz i be in those same areas you mentioned like a thumb tack. nothin to brag about but i get it how i live- we all know where them cams are and to be honest sometimes shit goes on right in front of the cams with backs turned. its even deeper than that sometimes cuz the people with the cams know whats going on, shit half of them are paid off or involved because they make more money turning a blind eye. cooperate and their next. the violent crime and robberies effect street business,t no one wants people ran off as they want the paper to keep flowin.-thats their target really. the hustling continues on because its deep rooted. both you and i know that.

i completely agree with the gentrification. and as of lately those are the areas where people are getting shot at- middle of the ave's and off the main streets. cant even count how many people ive heard of first person getting shot beat with bats knifed etc within the last few months in oakland. its been hot. and it seems like them cams aint solvin shit cuz really they still out on the streets and everyone knows who has bodies and they shut the fuck up because of that. i wouldnt even say more than what im sayin on the net. if you out there which im sure you are based on your knowledge set- you definitely know.

alot of oaklands crime is family oriented which leads to alot of corruption between neighborhoods as well. and i agree- its been heating up.... on the west and the east. can name 6 candlelight vigils burning right now in a 5 mi radius..cop come through and mean mug but half the time they know the people on the streets are smarter than to wait for them to bust a u turn, they clean up for a second them back to open shop...robberies are common even broad day on intl and SP..i used to spend my time in SF...now that im out in the east bay and know it well i see how deep the shit gets. i agree theyre trying to push it out of specific areas but dont really give a fuck about it going on in general- say no more tho. we both know wsup
 
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fillyacup

Rest In Free SoCo
Sep 27, 2004
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#13
Yet people who use Live Chat are being recorded. No, a light is not required for the device to be activated, an led light is only an indicator and can be bypassed. Even if I had the ish, like 99% of the people that actually do, I am not interesting enough for them to give a shit about, that is not the point though.
you say you dont do shit to give them a reason to give a shit but say shit does start to pop off, them little cameras are enough to stop some people from starting to do some shit that would give them reason to give a shit.


if that makes sense.
 
Feb 2, 2006
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10 20 years ago u actually had to do the legwork and go thru the legal process to spy on a particular target. now this spy regime is pretty much automatic. long as the usa spy regime exists companies like the facebook or twitter regimes will never go out of business
 

S.SAVAGE

SICCNESS MOTHERFUCKER
Oct 25, 2011
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#16
It's alot deeper than "gentrification", IMO.
domination my brother.
I am not for 'big brother' or any of that nonsense but at the end of the day, its not about gentrification, you guys are right... it is deeper than that.

it's about muh fuckers shooting up innocent victims like little kids & old women then maybe they wouldnt have to get babysat by a camera.

if these fucktard ass crack babies were not out acting like it's all good to blast an AK bullet down a street that got people on every side like they are above the law then maybe the law wouldnt have to put a fucking dunce cap on the entire city.

it aint nobody's fault but their own.

Oakland California is the new 1988 Compton & Oakland can blame themselves.

get some get right, grow the fuck up, & the city of Oakland can be a place where people might actually WANT to live vs HAVING to live there.
 
May 7, 2013
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#17
I am not for 'big brother' or any of that nonsense but at the end of the day, its not about gentrification, you guys are right... it is deeper than that.

it's about muh fuckers shooting up innocent victims like little kids & old women then maybe they wouldnt have to get babysat by a camera.

if these fucktard ass crack babies were not out acting like it's all good to blast an AK bullet down a street that got people on every side like they are above the law then maybe the law wouldnt have to put a fucking dunce cap on the entire city.

it aint nobody's fault but their own.

Oakland California is the new 1988 Compton & Oakland can blame themselves.

get some get right, grow the fuck up, & the city of Oakland can be a place where people might actually WANT to live vs HAVING to live there.
I don't disagree with everything you said necessarily but reality is they would do it (surveillance) regardless of people acting a fool or not- bad shit happening there can happen in Anywhere, USA. The 1984 agenda been real and it isn't just in the US either. As stated in the video Oakland was not targeted to prevent crime or violence, it was selected due to the activism base. 7000+ pages of evidence, in which crime or murder are not mentioned even one time, from gov communiucations regarding the surveillance, does not lie. The failure by the government to produce one shred of evidence that this surveillance targets such or prevents any of it is the icing on the cake so to speak.
 
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I am not for 'big brother' or any of that nonsense but at the end of the day, its not about gentrification, you guys are right... it is deeper than that.

it's about muh fuckers shooting up innocent victims like little kids & old women then maybe they wouldnt have to get babysat by a camera.

if these fucktard ass crack babies were not out acting like it's all good to blast an AK bullet down a street that got people on every side like they are above the law then maybe the law wouldnt have to put a fucking dunce cap on the entire city.

it aint nobody's fault but their own.

Oakland California is the new 1988 Compton & Oakland can blame themselves.

get some get right, grow the fuck up, & the city of Oakland can be a place where people might actually WANT to live vs HAVING to live there.
I agree also shea......

I don't disagree with everything you said necessarily but reality is they would do it (surveillance) regardless of people acting a fool or not- bad shit happening there can happen in Anywhere, USA. The 1984 agenda been real and it isn't just in the US either. As stated in the video Oakland was not targeted to prevent crime or violence, it was selected due to the activism base. 7000+ pages of evidence, in which crime or murder are not mentioned even one time, from gov communiucations regarding the surveillance, does not lie. The failure by the government to produce one shred of evidence that this surveillance targets such or prevents any of it is the icing on the cake so to speak.
But this is what I was getting at.

Not tryna get into a debate of any kind, but ppl need to wake up. We are losing our freedom and rights and since Obama came into office, he's been speeding up the process.
 

S.SAVAGE

SICCNESS MOTHERFUCKER
Oct 25, 2011
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#19
I agree also shea......



But this is what I was getting at.

Not tryna get into a debate of any kind, but ppl need to wake up. We are losing our freedom and rights and since Obama came into office, he's been speeding up the process.
I agree with you 100% breh, my only point is who is really to blame for us losing our freedoms?

Obama??( in which whom I believe has a horrible hidden agenda & so will the next president to follow, ect, ect )

Or is it this generation of crack babies with zero regards for human life shooting rampant into densely populated areas?

Is it the about leaving the flood gates open for anybody & everybody to come live in the USA, despite the fact they hate us?

Despite the fact their country hates us?

Their religion hates us?

Someone has to police this shit, ....do I want to be policed? NOPE.

But at the end of the day with the exponential amount of irresponsible people living here in the country, someone gotta at least attempt or make it seem like they are trying to make it safe for the average everyday citizen.

Do I want a camera on my moms house?

...nope, not if she is moving bulk weight of cocaine out her front door pimpin hoes & crackin off a bullet every time she has a disagreement

but if it is there to protect her, I can't say I disagree.
 

S.SAVAGE

SICCNESS MOTHERFUCKER
Oct 25, 2011
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#20
I agree also shea......



But this is what I was getting at.

Not tryna get into a debate of any kind, but ppl need to wake up. We are losing our freedom and rights and since Obama came into office, he's been speeding up the process.
also my choice words / foul mouth was in no way directed at you breh, I am sure you know this.