Minneapolis, MN – Documents obtained via a series of public records requests from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) provide rare insight into police intelligence gathering. The documents include case numbers in which facial recognition was used, details about systems that gain access to vehicle entertainment systems, geospatial intelligence, cell phone snooping and more.

Many drug and other task forces as well as more routine law enforcement operations within the region receive intelligence from investigators within the Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) and Criminal Information Sharing and Analysis (CISA) units. Within this division is the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Investigative Support Center (HIDTA ISC). Amid these units the Real Time Analysis Center (RTAC) is a hub for tactical operations planning.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office leases office space in downtown Minneapolis where HIDTA and CISA units work side by side, serving as a clearinghouse and command center both supporting criminal intelligence gathering as well as real time field operations.

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This report covers a range of technologies used by criminal intelligence analysts and investigators within the County-maintained facility that’s used as part of a multitude of police operations across the region. The legal threshold to perform cellphone surveillance in particular, but also regularly run facial recognition and other invasive technologies, are clearly lacking as is shown by the documentation obtained. The federal HIDTA program enables this data-driven approach to policing alongside the County’s criminal intelligence units, pooling access to resources, data and analysis.