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County reviewing state-level "Banjo" information-sharing system for emergency response
Summary
Sheriff's staff briefed the commission on Banjo, a state-supported real-time information-sharing platform that can access certain DOT cameras and push rapid alerts to participating agencies; commissioners asked about data security, limits on information-sharing and whether Banjo would ingest local video sources.
County staff described a state agreement that allows local law-enforcement agencies to piggyback on a data-sharing and situational-awareness platform called Banjo. Staff said the state pays for the service and that Banjo can access some DOT cameras in emergencies; datasets and alerts would flow both ways between Banjo and participating agencies.
A sheriff's representative said Banjo can provide faster situational information for incidents such as Amber Alerts or active investigations by aggregating and distributing data to agencies that participate. "It can give us tracking... if we have an Amber Alert, it can hone in on cars that we need to find quickly," a deputy said.
Commissioners pressed staff on privacy and security safeguards and asked whether Banjo would receive protected or confidential information; a sheriff's office representative said they had discussed safeguards with internal IT (Steve Strong) and did not expect protected/confidential data to be shared. Commissioners asked for technical documentation and a security assessment before taking the item to the regular agenda.
No decision was made at the work session; staff indicated they would return with more technical details and a recommendation about whether to add Banjo as a county partner under the state's agreement.
