Council approves controversial HPD surveillance upgrade Deckhead: antenna light. 13 on always 3 lines for 2 column Deck nccummreTio odoloreet

The Houston Police Department won City Council approval Wednesday to upgrade controversial surveillance equipment commonly known as a Stingray - a device capable of acting as a fake cell tower and forcing nearby phones to reveal their locations and call logs.

HPD plans to use a $495,000 federal grant to purchase updated technology from Harris Corp. to replace one of three models the department uses, buying two pieces of electronic hardware, a laptop controller and related software. The purchase is similar to ones the city has approved several times since 2007, but this conversation comes as the secretive Stingrays have spurred debates about electronic privacy and constitutional rights nationwide, and two bills addressing their use have been filed in the state Legislature.

Civil liberties activists spoke against the move at council this week, criticizing the secrecy that surrounds the technology - nondisclosure agreements keep much unknown about the devices' operations - and saying police could use the tool to monitor protesters. Mayor Annise Parker, City Council members and police officials, however, said the devices are needed to prevent terrorism, pursue wanted suspects and rescue victims in cases such as kidnappings.

HPD Capt. John Zera said his department seeks court orders for all Stingray uses and fashions these orders to meet the standards of a traditional probable cause warrant, which he said exceeds minimum requirements outlined in state law.

"There are legitimate areas of concern in terms of government intrusion into our private lives, but we believe that in the city's use of this kind of technology that we are following national best practices," Parker said. "We secure warrants. We limit our analysis of data to the target of that warrant. Some of the things people believe the technology allows us to do is not currently feasible to do."

City Council passed the item 15-1, however, with only Councilwoman Brenda Stardig dissenting; Councilman Michael Kubosh was absent, having left the meeting due to a personal matter.

"The public hasn't had an opportunity to understand how the technology can work," Stardig said. "They don't hear the opportunity of what it can do for the community. That's my concern right now. With all due respect to the Houston Police Department in bringing this forward, my constituents have expressed to me their concerns, and they don't want me to vote for this at this time."

Supporters stressed that only a handful of police have access to the technology and receive hundreds of hours of training to use it properly.