Joe Wolverton, II writes:
Federal law enforcement officers recently seized the records of a local police force’s use of a controversial surveillance system known as “Stingray” just before the information was scheduled to be released to the public.
The U.S. Marshals Service “stunned” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which was waiting on the imminent release of the documents pursuant to a public records request the group filed earlier this year with the Sarasota, Florida, police department. The petition sought to shed light on the scope of the department’s use of the Stingray device.
According to the ACLU, its representatives were scheduled to be given access to the documents last Tuesday, but federal marshals showed up first and took possession of the entire cache, claiming they were the property of the U.S. Marshals Service. The feds forbade the local police from releasing the documents as planned.
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