Fontana CSS/CCIT CPRA request

To whom it may concern,

This letter constitutes a request under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for records related to the Fontana Police Department’s purchase, usage, and policies regarding cellular communications interception technology (CCIT) and cell site simulators (CSS).

On March 14, 2023, the Fontana City Council approved the purchase of the Jacobs Technology Inc. Rapid Solutions system, which included the purchase and installation of a Base Station System for $920,098.94. The Rapid Solutions system qualifies as a CCIT and CSS. This purchase follows the acquisition of the Keyw CCIT/CSS systems; Keyw was acquired by Jacobs in 2019.

1. Fontana Police Department's CCIT/CSS usage and privacy policy regarding the collection, use, maintenance, data retention, sharing, and dissemination of information, including all directives, bulletins, memoranda and related guidance;
2. All memoranda of understanding or other agreements with other local agencies or any other party for the shared use of CCIT/CSS or the sharing of information collected through its use;
3. All policies, guidance, training materials or other documents regarding the use of CCIT/CSS and compliance with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA);
4. All disclosures to the California Department of Justice regarding CCIT/CSS use as required by CalECPA;
5. All emails, documents, user manuals, marketing materials, presentations and other documentation describing the following Jacobs products:
a. Base Station NG;
b. Trachea2+;
c. Jugular4+;
d. Light Embedded Software System;
6. All CCIT/CSS deployment logs from April 1, 2023 through March 19, 2024;
7. All search warrants filed in relation to the use of CCIT/CSS from the period April 1, 2023 through March 19, 2024.

In addition we request the following information and assistance, as required under CPRA:
* Assistance in identifying additional records and information that describes Fontana’s usage, acquisition of, and policies related to CCIT and CSS;
* A description of the information technology and physical location in which the records exist; and
* Suggestion for overcoming any practical basis for denying access to the records and information sought.

The CPRA also requires you to undertake reasonable efforts to locate responsive records and to work in good faith with requesters to respond to their request. See CYAC v. City of National City, 220 Cal.App.4th 1385, 1430 (2013). Thus under the CPRA you are obligated to conduct a reasonable search and cannot deny a request merely because it might generate a large volume of records.

We ask that you please respond to this request within 10 days either by providing all the requested records or by providing a written response setting forth the legal authority on which you rely in withholding or redacting any document, as well as stating when documents will be made available.

We also request that any records maintained in an electronic format be provided in that same format (such as a PDF, CSV or XLS file), to avoid copying costs.

However, should you be unable to do so, EFF will reimburse you for the direct costs of copying these records (if you elect to charge for copying) plus postage. If you anticipate that these costs will exceed $25.00, or that the time needed to copy the records will delay their release, please contact me so that I can arrange to inspect the documents or decide which documents I wish to have copied. Please also provide an invoice and a cost breakdown of the fee estimate. If the fees are less than $25.00, please copy and send the records and invoice as soon as possible, and we will promptly pay the required costs.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. If you have any questions or concerns, or if I can provide any clarification that will help identify responsive documents or focus this request, please do not hesitate to contact me at this email address. You may also mail correspondence to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, 815 Eddy. St. San Francisco, CA, 94109.

Sincerely,
Will Greenberg
Staff Technologist
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Hi Kelsey,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it. I received your last two emails with two 99 page documents attached, does that sound correct?

Sincerely,
Will Greenberg