By: Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune: January 12th, 2016
The Chicago Police Department must turn over records involving its use of a secret cellphone tracking system as part of an ongoing open-records lawsuit, a Cook County judge ruled Monday.
In denying the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Judge Kathleen Kennedy rejected the city’s argument that information about the Police Department’s use of “cell site simulators” — sometimes known as Stingray devices — was exempt from public disclosure.
The judge ordered the city to produce the records so she can inspect them in her chambers before deciding whether any need to be withheld. She asked the lawyers to return to her courtroom next month.
The decision marks the second recent blow to the city’s efforts to combat open-records requests involving police. In November, a different Law Division judge ordered the release of the now-infamous police dashboard camera video depicting a Chicago police officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times, killing him.
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department said Monday its staff members were “reviewing the judge’s decision and determining our next steps.”
Stingray devices can scan cellphones for call logs and text messages and have long been criticized as a potentially illegal way for police to monitor civilians without having to explain to a judge the reason for their surveillance. Police departments in at least 15 states have cell site simulators, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been involved in several lawsuits aimed at releasing public documents connected to Stingray use.
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department said Monday its staff members were “reviewing the judge’s decision and determining our next steps.”
Stingray devices can scan cellphones for call logs and text messages and have long been criticized as a potentially illegal way for police to monitor civilians without having to explain to a judge the reason for their surveillance. Police departments in at least 15 states have cell site simulators, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been involved in several lawsuits aimed at releasing public documents connected to Stingray use.
For years, the Chicago Police Department refused to acknowledge whether it used cell site simulators. Last year, Chicago police released limited records showing that since 2005 the department has been billed hundreds of thousands of dollars by the Florida-based Harris Corp. for the cell-phone tracking technology, including upgrades.
Kennedy’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed last year by Freddy Martinez, a local activist and self-described “techie” whose Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the purchase of the Stingray simulators was ignored by the Police Department. Martinez also asked for any search warrant applications involving use of the technology as well as records explaining how data are collected and stored by the department.
The city had argued that the technology falls under an exemption for unique and specialized policing techniques that are generally not known to the public.
The city submitted an affidavit from an FBI agent saying disclosing the information could aid criminals in developing ways to beat the technology. A representative of Harris Corp. said in an affidavit that revealing information about its technology would violate trade secret rules.
After the hearing Monday, Martinez told reporters outside Kennedy’s Daley Center courtroom that he felt he had “a pretty good shot” at seeing all the documents he sought.
Martinez, 28, who works as an Internet support technician and has been involved in the Black Lives Matter and NATO protests said its important for the public to have access to police records to make sure that someone is “watching the watchers.”
“What we really want to be able to do is just basic fact checking,” he said. “How is this technology being used? Are they getting proper court authorization?” We shouldn’t just believe that the cops are using this stuff reasonably.”
Martinez’s lawyer, Matthew Topic, said research has shown police in other cities have been “misrepresenting or hiding” key information from the courts about what this technology is capable of doing.
