To: Board of Supervisors
From: Diana Becton, District Attorney
Report Title: Marinus Analytics Subscription Agreement
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the District Attorney, or designee, to execute a Subscription Agreement with Marinus Analytics LLC in an amount not to exceed $5,758 for a Traffic Jam subscription to assist in the investigation of suspected cases of human trafficking for the period October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approval of this action will result in expenditures of up to $5,758 to be funded 100% by a federal grant which is included in the FY2024-2025 Departmental Budget.
BACKGROUND:
Traffic Jam is a subscription software application used by law enforcement agencies to investigate suspected cases of human trafficking. Using proprietary algorithms, Traffic Jam scrapes open-source intelligence (data) from hundreds of websites advertising illicit sexual services, compiles that data, and provides a variety of advanced data analytics tools to search the compiled data by indicia of human trafficking and other criteria (phone numbers, image searches, locations, social media usernames, etc.).
The application provides a highly efficient means of identifying victims of human trafficking and their traffickers and developing reliable evidence to prove human trafficking cases and to hold traffickers accountable. The value of the software is that it efficiently compiles data and provides highly effective tools to parse that data. If law enforcement had to conduct this research on a site-by-site basis, there would not be enough time in the day to identify and review even a small proportion of this data.
The Marinus Analytics Subscription Agreement includes limitation of liability and indemnification for the County to hold Marinus Analytics LLC harmless from any claims arising out of the performance under this agreement.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Without executing the Marinus Analytics Subscription Agreement, the District Attorney’s Office cannot access traffic jam subscription to efficiently investigate suspected cases of human trafficking.