By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large
A secret committee of local fire and police chiefs postponed its December meeting just minutes before it was to start after La Prensa San Diego filed a lawsuit claiming the group’s meetings violate state open meeting laws.
The group, called the Urban Area Working Group (UAWG), is the “Approving Authority” recognized by the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to distribute funding to local law enforcement and fire agencies to prepare for and respond to terrorist threats.
UAWG is a permanent subcommittee of the Unified San Diego County Emergency Services Organization (USDCESO), a local Joint Powers Authority (JPA) agency comprised of the County Office of Emergency Services (OES) and representatives from each of the 18 cities in the region, including local fire and police chiefs.
San Diego County law enforcement and fire agencies have secretly run a local committee that has spent over $200 million on armored vehicles, facial recognition technology, license plate readers, drones, riot gear, and other security equipment and technologies without public participation and in violation of state “sunshine” laws, keeping the public in the dark about purchases of controversial police equipment.
The San Diego Urban Area Working Group (UAWG, pronounced “yu-ag”) is the designated Approval Authority under a federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant program established after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
UAWG, a subcommittee of the San Diego County Unified Disaster Council (UDC), is comprised of a police or fire department representative from each of the 18 cities in the county and the Director of the County Office of Emergency Services (OES) and has been conducting its meetings quietly without giving required public notices.
Editor-at-Large
Last week, La Prensa San Diego filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego for its failure to provide documents under the California Public Records Act, continuing its long tradition of encouraging transparency and accountability among government agencies.
The request asked for documents related to the San Diego Police Department’s recent $9.5 million budget request to renew its use of ARJIS, the Automated Regional Justice Information System.
ARJIS is a joint powers authority that provides data and support services to police agencies throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties.
La Prensa asked for all documents related to the Police Department’s use of ARJIS services, as well as the agreements involved in securing the use of the system. After more than two weeks, La Prensa did not receive any response from the SDPD or the City. We hope the court action will compel the release of the documents as provided by state and federal laws.
Now retired La Mesa police Chief Walt Vasquez sent former Officer Matthew Dages a termination letter on Aug. 7.
According to the records, Dages didn’t ask another officer to accompany him or activate his body-worn camera before he walked up to Johnson, who was waiting for friends and standing against a parking garage wall outside an apartment complex.
Investigators determined 57 seconds elapsed between the start of the encounter and the moment Dages activated his camera, which happened once the encounter turned tense.
Dages told investigators he activated his body camera “as soon as reasonably possible” a statement the investigators and the police chief rejected. They said time and safety were on Dages’ side before and when he approached Johnson.