Bellingham Herald Logo

Some Tacoma council members say they were briefed on surveillance device | Bellingham Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • News Tips
    • Share a Photo
  • Dealsaver

    • All News
    • Local
    • Crime
    • Databases
    • Northwest
    • Nation & World
    • Weird News
    • Local Elections
    • Videos
    • Galleries
    • Traffic Cams
    • Webcam
    • Reader Photos
    • Columnists
    • Rules of the Road
    • All Sports
    • Seahawks
    • Mariners
    • Outdoors
    • Colleges
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • All Business
    • National Business
    • All Entertainment
    • Calendar
    • Restaurants
    • Movie News & Reviews
    • Movie Showtimes
    • Celebrities
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Horoscopes
    • All Living
    • Celebrations
    • Food & Drink
    • Families
    • Primetime Seniors
    • All Opinion
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Local Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary

  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Politics & Government

Some Tacoma council members say they were briefed on surveillance device

By Kate Martin - Staff writer

    ORDER REPRINT →

September 03, 2014 07:08 PM

Two Tacoma City Council members said this week that they each received a briefing from the city’s police chief last year that went beyond what the Police Department publicly revealed in seeking an update of cellphone surveillance equipment.

Councilman Marty Campbell said Chief Don Ramsdell told him in early 2013 that the upgrade would allow police to continue to track down criminal suspects using their cellphones. Councilman Robert Thoms, whose briefing was apparently less detailed, said he was told that police were upgrading technology used to solve crimes.

Both council members said they were briefed prior to the council’s March 2013 approval of a $251,752 upgrade for the Police Department’s cellphone surveillance equipment.

The purchase was described in city memos and a council resolution as necessary for the “prevention, protection response and recovery” of improvised explosive devices. The Police Department said last week that it has never used the equipment, a portable device generally called a cell site simulator, in that way.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Bellingham Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Instead, police use the equipment to locate suspects by tracking their phone signals.

“It was to be used like ‘Where’s Waldo,’ ” Campbell said of his briefing last year. “We turn this on, there’s Waldo’s phone.”

Other council members have said they do not remember being told exactly what the equipment does before they approved the purchase. In a statement Wednesday, Tacoma police said, “All City Council members were briefed between February 25, 2013 and March 2, 2013 on the general capabilities of the equipment.”

Commonly called a Stingray, the device exploits a flaw in cellphone security by tricking cellphones into connecting with it instead of a nearby cellphone tower. It also sweeps up information on all cellphones within its range, according to technology experts.

Thoms said Ramsdell and Assistant Chief Kathy McAlpine pulled him aside during a 2013 City Council retreat.

“It was upgrading software to address a wide range of technology options for solving crimes,” Thoms said. He said he didn’t ask too many questions because he was comfortable with the explanation. “That seemed to be fine with me because I want them to have every tool necessary to help save lives and find people and detect bombs.”

Campbell said police told him that they needed the software upgrade to keep up with rapidly evolving cellphone technology. Documents indicate the upgrade police received last year was a Hailstorm, which allows police to track phones that use 4G LTE technology.

Since police were seeking an upgrade of equipment they already had, Campbell assumed the previous City Council had vetted it.

But several who served on the Tacoma City Council in 2007 and 2008 — the years during which the city received a federal grant for the device and took possession of it — said they do not remember any briefings or meetings in which the technology was discussed. The News Tribune has filed records requests for documents about the original acquisition.

Former City Councilman Mike Lonergan, now the Pierce County assessor-treasurer, said he remembers a number of presentations on U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants, but nothing about a device that finds people through cellphone signals.

“I do recall a grant that involved technology related to the fact that we are a major port city,” Lonergan said. “It was written from a homeland security aspect.”

Connie Ladenberg, now a Pierce County councilwoman, was chairwoman of the City Council’s public safety committee in 2007. She said she also doesn’t remember being told about a surveillance device or something that can prevent IEDs. Same for former City Councilman and current County Councilman Rick Talbert.

“The first I heard about it I read in the paper,” he said. “I have no recollection of ever having conversations about it. It certainly seems that, had I heard something about it, I would certainly remember. It does seem quite extensive and intrusive.”

Talbert echoed the concerns of many civil libertarians about police owning such devices with little public oversight.

“I certainly see the benefit of it, but it raises all kinds of questions for me when it comes to personal liberties and Fourth Amendment issues,” he said. “ It seems kind of Big Brother-ish.”

Former Mayor Bill Baarsma and former councilman Jake Fey also said they do not recall any briefings or sessions held on this technology. Baarsma, however, said he wouldn’t be surprised if there had been one.

“There was a lot of technology that was being discussed, within the context of a broader threat, that was being made available to police departments,” Baarsma said.

The Police Department said in a statement last week that it uses the device only with permission from a judge, and that the device does not retain any data or intercept the content of calls or texts. It has said it can answer only limited questions about the device because of the nondisclosure agreement it signed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a condition of receiving the equipment.

Records show the department has used the Stingray 179 times since it started using the device in 2009, mostly for drug cases. That number includes instances in which TPD deployed the device on behalf of other agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

Related stories from Bellingham Herald

politics-government

Tacoma police admit to cellphone surveillance, say they don’t keep data

August 27, 2014 02:40 PM

politics-government

Documents: Tacoma police using surveillance device to sweep up cellphone data

August 26, 2014 03:56 PM

  Comments  

Videos

Trump announces national emergency to get border wall funding

Sen. McConnell says Trump will sign spending bill and declare a national emergency

View More Video

Trending Stories

Downtown landmark business burns early Monday

February 18, 2019 08:16 AM

Having trouble finding an apartment rental in Whatcom County? Here’s why

February 17, 2019 05:00 AM

‘We might see one fire death in a year. But three in one week? That’s very abnormal.’

February 17, 2019 05:00 AM

Here’s where people turn for groceries when they’re feeling broke in Bellingham

February 18, 2019 05:00 AM

Travel nightmare ‘was one of those instances in your life where people help each other’

February 18, 2019 05:00 AM

things to do

Read Next

National

W.Va. teachers’ unions call for strike over education bill

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 18, 2019 03:33 PM

West Virginia teachers' unions have called a statewide strike over an education bill that they view as retaliation for a nine-day walkout last year.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Bellingham Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Tense standoff spells endgame for IS militants in Syria

World

Tense standoff spells endgame for IS militants in Syria

February 18, 2019 12:38 PM
Trudeau’s top adviser resigns while denying wrongdoing

National Business

Trudeau’s top adviser resigns while denying wrongdoing

February 18, 2019 03:35 PM

National Politics

Iowa governor opts not to appeal fetal heartbeat law ruling

February 18, 2019 03:33 PM
Trump sees ‘new day’ for Latin America at Miami rally

National

Trump sees ‘new day’ for Latin America at Miami rally

February 18, 2019 03:29 PM

National Politics

GOP plan aims to address state public defender problems

February 18, 2019 03:28 PM
2020 hopeful Warren to unveil universal child care plan

National Business

2020 hopeful Warren to unveil universal child care plan

February 18, 2019 03:27 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Bellingham Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Subscriber Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Place an Obituary
  • Place a Celebration
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story