Baltimore PD sounds off on secret Stingray program

In the wake of a detective’s revealing testimony about the Baltimore Police Department’s use of cellphone tracking technology, BPD brass took to the airwaves with a video addressing the device.
Capt. Eric Kowalczyk, who is BPD’s Director of Media Relations, didn’t use the word “Stingray,” or “Hailstorm,” nor did he go into as much depth about the use of the technology as Detective Emmanuel Cabreja did in court late last week.
Kowalczyk did, however, acknowledge the technology in a public forum, which is a step.
BPD hasn’t detailed its use of the devices, which act as cellphone towers and collect information from cellphones in abut a block radius to zero in on a suspect. Despite the fact that the technology has been in use since 2007 and police have used it 4,300 times, BPD hasn’t said anything about it in the past due a nondisclosure agreement with the FBI that prevented them from talking about it.
Kowalczyk painted the technology as a necessary tool to catch Baltimore criminals, and sought to ease concerns about civil liberties. Through a spokesman, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she supports the department’s use of the controversial device.
“We can’t listen to your cellphone calls and record them. We can’t read your emails, your text messages, look at your photos or get any other information off of the phone,” Kowalczyk said. “This is a piece of technology that allows us, through proper usage and compliance with the law, to track down some of the most violent offenders in our city and put them in jail.”