The Use of Stingrays, Devices to Locate and Track Suspects Via Their Cell Phones, Is Used Around the Country – Does This Explain Arizona?

 

Back in 2008, the use of Stingrays was reported in California when a tax cheat was captured after filing returns on dead people and obtaining their refunds.  The culprit had thought he covered his tracks but later found out he was captured by the use of the stingray:

It turned out that the U.S. government had been secretly using the Stingray for years, first for military use and then for law enforcement, to locate and track suspects by their cellular connections. Rigmaiden became among the first civilians to learn about this technology, and his case opened the doors to public knowledge about it.

Yet several years later, as more information about Stingrays — also called IMSI catchers, cell-site simulators or fake cell towers — has become available, use of the devices by law enforcement appears to be routinely obscured in court records. At least one major manufacturer allegedly requires police departments to never disclose that they use the devices…

But by 2015, the federal government was required to obtain a warrant before using them on US citizens:

Nevertheless, on Sept. 3, 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new policy that requires its agencies — including the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — to, in routine cases, get a warrant before using a Stingray. The policy also directs the agencies to destroy data collected from non-suspects as soon as a targeted suspect is located.

In 2015 new guidelines were established but they were just guidelines:

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Last week, the Justice Department released new guidelines on how its agents can use cell phone trackers in investigations. As promised, the revised policy has a warrant requirement, clear guidance on writing a detailed warrant, and provisions for deleting bystander data. Civil liberties watchdogs call it an enormous step.

But the seven-page policy hardly closes the book on StingRays. The document’s minimal best practices have no authority beyond the Justice Department. Non-DOJ federal agencies remain free to set their own guidelines on cell site simulators, as do state and local law enforcement. What’s more, agencies under the Justice Department umbrella continue to fight disclosures regarding StingRays, as they have for years. Enormous a step as it may be, this policy is but an initial one toward true transparency on cell phone tracking by law enforcement.

In February 2013, the FBI/DOJ signed an agreement with Phoenix Police Department. In this document, it is clear that the Phoenix Police have equipment like cell phone trackers:

Phoenix Pd FBI Nda 11feb2013 by Jim Hoft on Scribd

The first numbered bullet in the agreement states the following.  Note the PD can only use this technology in support of public safety operations or criminal investigations:

As time has passed and by 2016, the federal government claimed they didn’t need a warrant for stingrays because everyone knows we can track cell phones:

This leads us to the planes flying around Phoenix these past few days and their congregation around the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum where the 2020 election audit is being performed.  We obtained plane routes by a police plane on the 30th, for example.