AUSTIN Few will talk about it.
But Texas is one of more than a dozen states where law enforcers use the stingray cellphone-tracking technology.
Despite growing concerns about local law enforcement spying on residents cellphones, cities nationwide including Fort Worth own this technology, which basically works as a tracking system, tricking cellphones into believing its a cell tower to give law enforcers the ability to find a phone user and gather data.
Its a hush-hush topic, as even President Barack Obamas administration has been telling police nationwide not to give out details about the stingray technology, which is used for such things as tracking cellphones used by suspects in criminal investigations.
But some Texas lawmakers refuse to remain mum on the issue and want to require investigators to get legal clearance before engaging in what critics say is spying on the public.
Two bills in the Legislature would require law enforcers to get a warrant before using this technology to track people and gather data from their cellphones.
It is critical that we have safeguards in place to protect the privacy rights of Texans, said state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls. The safety of Texans and their interests have been, and always will be, my greatest concern.
Our citizens should not be concerned that their privacy is being invaded any time they want to use a cell phone.
Stingray equipment, also known as cell site simulators, is in use in at least 21 states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
In Texas, the Fort Worth Police Department and the Houston Police Department are among the agencies known to buy the suitcase-size stingray device, which can generally fit in a vehicle so it can be moved to any neighborhood to gather data such as the location of a phone, numbers dialed and length of calls.
Stingrays are extremely useful tools in the fight against terrorism here in the United States and have been used successfully by the FBI and other law enforcement organizations in the surveillance of potential and actual terrorists, said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.
When local police departments initially purchased stingray devices, they did so based primarily on the argument that local law enforcement also needed to have the same tools as federal agencies to counter potential terrorist threats in cities throughout the country.
Right now, a gap in Texas law lets law enforcers gather such information without a warrant which is a concern to critics.
The two bills in Texas would change that and require a warrant except in emergencies to gather that information.
We need a 21st century Fourth Amendment and these bills will get us closer to that, said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable searches,
which has always been interpreted as the knock on the door at your house.
Technological advances have now made that knock on your door a ping on your cellphone.
Texas surveillance
The Associated Press has reported that the Obama administration is asking agencies to withhold common information about the equipment, such as how the technology is used and how to turn it on.
Police departments nationwide have been quiet about the surveillance equipment they own.
The use of stingray equipment in Texas most recently made news last month when Houston police asked city leaders to use nearly $500,000 in federal grant money to buy stingray equipment.
Three years ago in Fort Worth, city officials approved buying a $184,000 portable system to track cellphones.
Police then and now have said little about the equipment.
The KingFish System, made by the Florida-based Harris Corp., is designed to help police in locating, identifying, developing probable cause and apprehending priority offenders, according to a 2012 Fort Worth document.
Fort Worth police will continue to ensure private citizens constitutional rights as protected by securing search warrants and court orders based on probably cause, police said that year in a statement.
Only in exigent circumstances such as kidnappings, child abductions, missing persons [such as an Alzheimers patient] or in circumstances regarding immediate action in order to preserve life would we use without first obtaining a warrant, police said in a 2012 statement. In cases involving exigent circumstances, we still obtain warrants and/or court orders as soon as possible.
A memo at the time said Fort Worth police had used the technology and received training for it. The KingFish units are mobile, which lets them be mounted on a vehicle or carried by officers in the field.
Fort Worth Cpl. Tracey Knight, a police spokeswoman, declined to comment for this report.