Council approves data-sharing agreement with Peregrine despite indemnity concerns
Loading...
Summary
Redondo Beach approved a memorandum to join a Peregrine Technologies data-exchange platform to share law enforcement data with other agencies, while staff and the city attorney flagged remaining risks: lack of indemnity from other agencies, 30-day data retention rules and reliance on CJIS compliance and audit logs to detect misuse.
The Redondo Beach City Council on June 10 voted to approve a data-sharing agreement with Peregrine Technologies to permit other law enforcement agencies to query integrated police data (license-plate readers, records management, body camera metadata) through a shared platform.
Staff described the platform as an upgrade from older teletype-style information exchanges. Captain Jeff Mendence, who led the department’s briefing, said Peregrine “takes that same system, those requests, and puts it into this platform where you're sharing data,” enabling faster searches across agencies. IT Director Mike Cook told the council Peregrine and participating agencies must meet federal Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security standards: “As a law enforcement agency here at Redondo, we must be compliant with all of the policies and standards that CJIS sets,” he said.
Council members pressed staff on privacy and liability protections. City Attorney Joy Ford said Peregrine agreed to notify the city within 24 hours of a breach by Peregrine itself and to provide continuous, real-time audit logs showing which approved agencies and users accessed shared data. However, Ford said the agreement does not require other participating agencies to indemnify Redondo Beach if those agencies misuse data; Peregrine cannot force partner agencies to sign indemnity language.
Other safeguards and limitations discussed in the meeting: - CJIS compliance: Peregrine and customer agencies must adhere to federal CJIS controls, including background checks and technical safeguards. Mike Cook said CJIS requirements are stringent and cover encryption, training and physical controls. - Audit logs and 24-hour notification: Peregrine must provide continuous audit logs and notify the city within 24 hours of Peregrine-originated breaches; the city can request immediate termination of another agency's access if a violation is identified. Ford said the city expects to receive audit logs and to be able to remove partners' access promptly. - Data retention and deletion: Staff said Redondo Beach retains ownership of its native data and controls deletion; Peregrine maintains an active connection but must remove shared copies within a stated period (staff cited a 30-day deletion window following termination of sharing for specific data types). The city retains control of data in its original systems.
Public comment included concerns about potential misuse of law-enforcement data and requests for clearer lists of participating agencies. Staff supplied a preliminary list of active Peregrine partners (Glendale, Gardena, Arcadia, Alhambra, San Bernardino, Colton) and said additional agencies (El Segundo, LAPD, Torrance, Hermosa Beach, Downey, Inglewood) had pending agreements.
Outcome and next steps: The council approved the data-sharing agreement. Staff said Redondo can selectively choose which partners to share with, and it can terminate partners’ access if misuse is reported. The city will monitor audit logs and return to the council if a breach creates material liability.
Votes at a glance: The agreement to join the Peregrine data-exchange platform passed unanimously.
