The Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) told media outlets Wednesday afternoon during a briefing at the department’s headquarters that its staff would “put a hold” on using Tiger Text– a text-messaging application that automatically deletes conversations over a certain amount of time.
The briefing follows backlash the department received after a Sept. 18 Al Jazeera article that alleged police may have used it to share and hide sensitive and potentially incriminating information.
After consulting with the city manager, city attorney and the chief of police, the City is suspending any use of the application, according to Nancy Pratt, LBPD public information officer, in a public statement she emailed to the Signal Tribune Wednesday before the meeting. The department is also “pending further review of whether the use [of the app] is consistent with the City’s record-retention policy and administrative regulations for the use of mobile devices,” the statement reads.
The Al Jazeera article purports that anonymous LBPD officers informed the publication that Tiger Text was used to share details of police operations and personnel issues. Moreover, two officers allegedly stated that they were instructed by superiors to “have conversations with other officers that wouldn’t be discoverable.”
During the press briefing this week, LBPD Chief of Police Robert Luna said that he was appreciative the Al Jazeera article was published because it provided a viewpoint about Tiger Text the department hadn’t thought about before.
“From the police department’s perspective, we are looking at a department that, we think, is trying to do the right thing all the time, and we want to do the right thing all the time,” Luna said. “We saw the Tiger Text application as not much different from that.”
The LBPD had used Tiger Text, now called Tiger Connect, since 2014, when the police transitioned from BlackBerry cell phones to iPhones, which did not have built-in secure-communication features that were sufficient for the needs of the department, Luna said.
“The primary purpose of the Tiger Connect application was to allow for a continued means of transitory, immediate and secure communications regarding operational and personnel matters,” reads Wednesday’s statement. “Police department employees have been trained to and do document any exculpatory/discoverable evidence in a police report or other formal departmental communication.”
LBPD officials explained Wednesday that Tiger Text was typically used to verify information between various units of the department that may have been spread across a crime scene. For example, officials said authorities of the department’s homicide, patrol and laboratory units could use the application to notify each other of a meeting taking place at the chief’s office.
When asked how many officer-involved or in-custody deaths LBPD officials discussed via Tiger Text, authorities said they could only speculate on the exact number. However, Luna stated that all relevant information of an investigation was included into official reports.
“When people are out at the scene, they may be discussing something that’s going on out there, but again, the expectation is very clear– if there’s something that is pertinent to that case, it needs to be in an official report,” he said. “We are bound by law, by policy [and] our training from day one. If there is something in there that’s critical, it’s got to be in a police report.”
Due to its proximity, the Signal Tribune reached out to the Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) about its possible use of Tiger Text or any other sort of application that self-deletes conversations.
“I’ve never heard of this app,” SHPD Captain Brian Leyn said. “We would never do anything like that. There’s no need for us.”
Leyn said he could not speak for his Long Beach counterparts, but he said that the SHPD does not use “special” methods of communication within its department.
Luna explained that, when using Tiger Text, the application can send messages to five people. The app then relays information to the user about who has read a specific message.
When a message is received, the application will continue to ring and send a notification until the user responds.
“You can’t ignore it,” Luna said, adding that the applicate deletes messages after five days.
Rich Conant, deputy chief with the LBPD, said the Tiger Text system was initially purchased simply because it contains a secure-communication network.
“The system wasn’t purchased because it actively deletes information,” he said. “[It’s about] the ability to have secure communication while discussing investigative matters.”
Although the LBPD has opted to halt the use of the application, Luna said that staff will look to “modify” how it approaches its communication, but did not rule out continuing the use of the tool.
“We did not have a policy for the use of Tiger Text, and that’s a mistake we’ve made,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll go back to Tiger Text– I think it’s a great tool– [and] I think that’s part of the review that we’ll look at.”
If the department does decide to use the application again, Luna said there will be a “very strict” policy about its use.
Part of the review process that Luna is referring to will include an investigation as to why the city attorney was never notified and why he didn’t finalize approval about using the texting system.
The chief also admitted that modern-day upgrades in technology have “completely outpaced the policy” and that a report would also clarify the appropriate use of a self-deleting app like Tiger Text that can permanently wipe information.
The report will make sure that the LBPD is in line with City policy, he added.
Luna also clarified that the use of Tiger Text was never meant to be a “secret” or to be “hidden” from the public.
When the Signal Tribune asked LBPD officials Wednesday if Al Jazeera ever reached out to the department for comment or if officials had knowledge about who the anonymous officers quoted in the article might be, they said there was no concrete answer.
“I think all of us sitting at this table can speculate as to what had happened, but I don’t think it would be responsible to say, ‘This is how it happened,” he said, although he did add that no LBPD employee ever complained or alleged there was misconduct within the department because of the application.
Luna also showed the Signal Tribune his personal messages from Tiger Text to demonstrate the department’s use of the app.
He asked the media to not publish images of the conversation because it contained outdated, confidential information from an in-custody death that occurred early Monday morning. For example, the age of the victim was originally incorrect, and Luna said correct information pertaining to that matter will go into an official report.
Luna said the department’s staff originally thought it did not need to retain possibly outdated information about crime scenes on applications such as Tiger Text, but that may change due to recent media and public inquiries about the department’s communication practices.
“Does it need to be retained? I didn’t think so,” Luna said. “As I reflect on it, maybe that’s part of the review. Maybe it does.”