Public Interest Groups File Complaint Against Baltimore Police for Use of Stingrays
New America’s Open Technology Institute, Color Of Change and the Center for Media Justice filed a complaint at the FCC against the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) for its “extensive and racially-biased use” of fake cell towers. The department uses unlicensed cellsite simulators (CS simulators), or stingrays, to locate and track cellphones in what the groups argue is a violation of the Communications Act. A filing asks the FCC to bring an enforcement action against the BPD.
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The Baltimore department “makes exceptionally heavy use of the equipment -- BPD may even make greater use of its CS simulator equipment than any other city, state, or local law enforcement agency in the country,” the filing alleges. “BPD uses the equipment not only to investigate violent crimes of the most troubling nature, but also to investigate everyday street crimes, to locate witnesses, and for other unspecified purposes.”
"We look forward to reviewing the complaint filed today,” an FCC spokesman said. “The commission expects state and local law enforcement to work through the appropriate legal processes to use these devices." The BPD isn't commenting, a spokesman said.
Eric Null, policy counsel at OTI, told us it’s difficult to predict how the FCC will proceed. “The FCC may ask BPD for a response, but the FCC may also proceed with an investigation without such a response,” Null said. It's unlikely the FCC will seek public comment, he said. “Given the blatant statutory violation and the clearly disproportionate impact these simulators have on Black communities in Baltimore, I hope the FCC takes action and quickly,” he said.
“Local police departments have been allowed to use illegal surveillance technologies like Stingrays over and over again with no oversight or accountability -- with great harm to Black people and other communities of color,” said Brandi Collins, Color Of Change campaign director, in a news release. “The time for the FCC to take action to protect vulnerable communities by prohibiting the use of these surveillance devices is now.”
Data collected by the groups suggests the BPD used its simulators 4,300 times since 2007, or more than once per day, the filing said. In comparison, “police in Boston (est. population 667,137) used the technology 11 times in 7 years, police in San Diego (est. population 1,394,928) used it ‘at least 30 times’ in 5.5 years, and police in New York City (est. population 8,550,405) used it approximately 1,016 times in 7.5 years,” the filing said. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Baltimore's 2015 population as 621,849.