Rather than see records on stingray tracking devices used by Sarasota police released to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the U.S. Marshals Service seized the documents. The Service said they deputized a local officer and as a result the records belonged to the federal government. (Freedom of the Press Foundation, June 9, 2014, by C.J. Ciaramella)
The ACLU filed an emergency order to block the move and force the police to honor state open records laws. (ACLU, June 3, 2014, press release)
The Associated Press reports that the incident in Sarasota was just one in a number of instances in which the federal government has urged local law enforcement officials to keep their use of surveillance technology under wraps. (techdirt, June 13, 2014, by Tim Cushing)
The federal government and local police and sheriff departments have not been forthcoming about the use of the technology in tracking citizens, but in 2011, FBI agents were instructed to be more transparent. The technology has been routinely used without warrant. (reason.com, June 4, 2014, by J.D. Tuiccille)
What started as a routine public records request has morphed into a fight about government secrecy and checks and balances. The federal government has urged local sheriffs and police to invoke national security concerns when facing judges in lawsuits seeking information about the use of stingray technology. (Al Jazeera America, June 12, 2014, by Nathan Freed Wessler of the ACLU)