San Mateo supervisors approve Peregrine law‑enforcement platform amid privacy questions

San Mateo County supervisors voted unanimously Jan. 27 to authorize an 18‑month, countywide implementation of Peregrine Technologies’ public‑safety data platform, a tool county leaders said will let multiple agencies opt in to share existing law‑enforcement data and visualize it in real time.

Vice President (Supervisor) Mueller introduced the item, saying the platform will help disparate police agencies collaborate on complex investigations that cross jurisdictional lines. Sheriff Bender and other law‑enforcement leaders described the tool as an operational aid that connects existing sources — police reports, computer‑aided dispatch data, license‑plate reader feeds — without installing additional cameras or sensors.

“Peregrine will take various data sources such as police reports, CAD data and license plate reader data and put it into an easy, usable real‑time format,” a county presenter said during the briefing. County and vendor staff emphasized that each agency will retain authority over its own data and that sharing requires agency‑level agreement.

During public comment and board questioning, privacy advocates and several residents urged caution. Speakers raised concerns about potential mission creep, subpoena risks and whether the system could be used by federal immigration authorities. Peregrine’s regional sales manager, Andrew Riley, said the company stores data in CJIS‑compliant Amazon GovCloud instances and that, by contract, Peregrine does not share data with federal immigration authorities. Sheriff Bender said the contract specifies that data remain the sending agency’s data and that agencies will follow county policies on noncooperation with immigration authorities.

Supervisors asked about procurement: staff said the county piggybacked on an RFP issued by the city of Alhambra and refined that solicitation for local use. The initial county contract term is 18 months with two one‑year options; the county estimated combined participation costs for all agencies would not exceed about $3.3 million across the contract term.

Supporters, including San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini, said the platform will improve officer safety and investigative effectiveness by reducing data silos. Opponents asked the board to require stricter guardrails, audits and public reporting about what data are shared and who can query it.

The board approved the resolution by roll call vote. Next steps include agency onboarding, establishing audit procedures, and a county‑led public update after the pilot period.