A Milwaukee PD "critical response vehicle", or surveillance van. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

The Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) is pursuing upgrades to technology used to track phones during investigations. Known as cell site simulators, the formerly murky equipment tracks phones by mimicking cell towers. Once connected to a targeted phone, cell site simulators are able to track the signal, allowing police to locate people. According to city purchasing division records, MPD aims to upgrade and acquire new components and extend a contract for the phone tracking gear by three years. 

The city’s contract with Tactical Support Equipment will be extended until 2028 and increase by $165,000 to $1.45 million. “MPD operating funds will be used,” according to records obtained by the Examiner explaining the purpose for amending the contract. The amendments will cover funds and coverage for two cell site simulators purchased in 2022, the records state. 

A separate section of the purchasing division records explains “this equipment is used on a regular basis to locate suspects and in exigent situations such as critical missing incidents.” It also states, “MPD used this equipment to help support other law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin, law enforcement in other states such as Texas, Ohio, and Michigan, and federal agencies such as FBI and DEA. At this time, MPD is seeking to upgrade the existing equipment, add additional equipment, and add warranty, support and maintenance for the new and upgraded equipment beyond what the department currently has in place. Tactical Support Equipment, Inc. is the only vendor that can support the equipment as the equipment and software is proprietary.”

MPD has used cell site simulators since at least 2010, according to logs the department uses to catalog its use of the gear. For years, the technology was used by MPD’s Fusion Center, an intelligence unit originally created for Homeland Security operations. A group of officers known as the Confidential Source Team – or CS Team – operates the cell site simulators. Logs of the technology’s use show that it’s mostly used to investigate crimes including homicides and shootings and for investigations related to overdoses or firearms. The logs also show the technology is used to locate material witnesses, kidnapping victims, but also for vague reasons like “drugs”, “long term”, or are redacted entirely.

By 2022, when Wisconsin Examiner first interviewed a member of the CS Team, both the team and its gear had been moved from the Fusion Center to MPD’s Special Investigations Division (SID), which focuses on fugitives, felonies and violent crimes. The team’s name invokes the technology’s secretive history. 

The Milwaukee department once signed non-disclosure agreements in order to acquire the technology leading to controversies in 2016, when MPD was accused of hiding use of Stingray-type devices from judges during court proceedings. When asked during a trial about how a person was located, officers used “oddly vague language,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin said, even stating that they “obtained information from an unknown source.” Things have changed over time, however. Today, the Milwaukee Police Foundation, which funnels private donations to MPD, publicly lists cell site simulators as among the technologies it helps MPD to purchase.

Like many other law enforcement agencies nationwide, for years MPD utilized phone tracking equipment produced by the Harris Corporation, a multi-billion dollar defense contractor. Harris’ devices were so common that one of its brand names, Stingray, became a common shorthand for all cell site simulators, which are also sometimes called “IMSI catchers.”   

In 2019, MPD purchased a new model from Tactical Support Equipment, a North Carolina-based veteran-owned company which sells everything from K9 camera systems to cables and night-vision cameras. The company does not appear to advertise its cell phone tracking systems on its website. 

Tactical Support Equipment, which did not respond to requests for comment for this story, sold MPD a single cell site simulator in 2019 for $498,900, according to purchasing division records from the time. Later that same year, MPD purchased a C-Hostile Emitter Angle Tracker (C-HEATR), which is a remote handheld mapping device that works together with the cell site simulator. 

Three years later in 2022, MPD upgraded the cell tracking gear by adding a four-channel “5G enabler solution” for $328,700, and a 12-channel portable base station with full 5G coverage (as well as insurance, training, and supporting equipment) for $951,750. 

Responding to questions from Wisconsin Examiner, MPD said that the most recent upgrades will be to “support devices operating in 5G.” The department added that “MPD is the only agency in the area that has a [cell site simulator]. When an agency needs assistance with an investigation and their request falls in line with our operating best practices, we try to provide that agency with assistance.” 

Although cell site simulators are less of an enigma than they used to be, many questions still remain. While MPD states that its technology can only track location, cell site simulators as a family of devices are known to be capable of intercepting calls and text messages, and even more exotic abilities like sending fake short messages to a target phone. In Milwaukee, local activists have long reported strange phone malfunctions and service disruptions which they suspect may be caused by law enforcement surveillance. 

MPD has repeatedly denied responsibility for the claims, and has said in the past that the department’s cell site simulators do not cause malfunctions to target phones. When the Wisconsin Examiner reached out for this story, however, MPD said for the first time that “the equipment already will disrupt service to the target phone when the target phone is located. That disruption is limited to the time it takes for the operator to narrow down the location of the device.” 

The department has also repeatedly stated that its cell site simulators cannot intercept calls or text messages. A different technology known as PenLink is used by MPD for Title III investigations, which involve intercepting content of communications. In responses to Wisconsin Examiner, MPD cited Department of Justice policies and U.S. law which state that “cell site simulator technology must be configured as pen registers, and may not be used to collect contents of any communication.” Wisconsin Examiner reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Justice for more information and has not received a response. 

From 2021 to 2023, Republicans introduced bills that would have changed  how pen registers are defined in Wisconsin. Supporters of the bills, which did not pass, said that they would allow law enforcement to pursue pen registers for social media. Telecommunications experts, however, warned that the bills could open a “back door” for police to use cell site simulator devices in ways not well understood by judges or the public. 

There have been more calls for more oversight of police surveillance in Milwaukee recently, with local activists pushing for  Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) ordinances. Over two dozen U.S. cities have already passed such ordinances, which provide more transparency about the purchase and use of surveillance technologies by police departments. MPD stresses that it uses cell site simulators in accordance with DOJ policy “and only after a court order is granted in cases that are not exigent,” the department said in a statement. “There is a process in place in which utilization of the equipment is only done with supervisory approval and oversight.”

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE

The Palmyra public safety building. (Photo via Palmyra Fire Rescue Facebook page)

Under a proposed partnership with federal Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), the Palmyra Police Department would focus on criminals — not on people simply because they might be immigrants without legal status, the department’s interim police chief told the Wisconsin Examiner in an interview last week. 

Interim Police Chief Paul Blount also said that partnering with ICE would allow department officers to get access to databases and resources to better fight serious crimes, such as drug trafficking and human trafficking.

Along with the proposed partnership deal, the Palmyra department has the potential to receive payments for its involvement. According to CBS 58 News, Blount said last week that the agreement might “be the difference in this next year of having officers on the street during the daytime and nighttime.”

Blount spoke with the Wisconsin Examiner for about 40 minutes Thursday about the village’s proposed ICE partnership. The arrangement, under the ICE task force model, would grant officers limited authority to enforce immigration law while performing routine police duties. The department would also receive reimbursements from ICE. 

Task force agreements with ICE were discontinued in 2012, but the government has revived the program in President Donald Trump’s second term, Stateline reported.

The 287(g) program allows participating local law enforcement to enforce certain aspects of U.S. immigration law in partnerships with ICE. While 13 Wisconsin counties have a sheriff’s department partnering with ICE, Palmyra would be the only 287(g) partnership in Wisconsin between a police department and ICE. 

The Palmyra partnership would also be the only 287(g) partnership in Wisconsin using the task force model. Other models focus on people who are already in custody. 

The proposal still awaits approval by the Palmyra village board. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin issued a press release last week criticizing the potential partnership, saying the department is “partnering hand in glove with ICE to carry out this regime’s plan to deport our immigrant neighbors and loved ones.” 

Chief: Little change for police operations

In his interview with the Wisconsin Examiner, Blount said that under the arrangement with ICE, the village police department would not be operating much differently than it does now. 

In addition to cooperating with the federal government, Blount said,  “Obviously the financial incentive that was newly added that goes along with it was another reason why we looked at this program, and said, ‘We’re already doing a majority of what this involves. So why would we not collaborate with them, and then we could have the financial incentive that goes along with it.’” 

The ICE website says officers may also exercise limited immigration authority as active participants on ICE-led task forces. 

In its statement, the ACLU said that the task force model “gives officers the green light to stop people they think might be immigrants on the street, question them about their citizenship status, and even take them into custody.”

Blount said the department will not go door to door to check individuals’ documentation or profile people who they think may lack documentation. Palmyra police will collaborate with ICE when someone is involved in criminal activity, wanted on a warrant or facing criminal charges, he said. 

Blount, who is also the director of public safety for the village, said he is one of three full-time officers in the department, along with five part-time officers. 

Asked whether a Palmyra Police Department officer might ask people about their immigration status if they are pulled over for traffic violations — rather than something that would lead police to take a driver to jail — Blount said he didn’t think that was likely. 

 “For a simple traffic stop, that is something that we would be allowed to do,” Blount said, “and I would say that I haven’t made a final decision on that yet. If it involves criminal traffic, the answer to that would be yes, if it’s criminal traffic. So there are certain things that rise to the element of criminal traffic law…but basic traffic [offenses] like a speeding ticket, probably not.”

Blount said that distinction would potentially be detailed in a policy if the village moves ahead with the partnership.  

In its statement, the ACLU of Wisconsin raised concerns about racial profiling. A 2011 Department of Justice investigation found widespread racial profiling and other discrimination in an Arizona task force. 

The ACLU also called for “a balanced approach to immigration that includes both humane border management and a pathway to citizenship.”

If Palmyra moves forward with the partnership, Blount said he is leaning “towards establishing policies and procedures to prevent any type of profiling that the agreement has the potential for.” 

ICE now lists Palmyra Police Department as a participating 287(g) agency with the task force model, with a signature date of Monday, Sept. 22. Blount said the department received federal approval on Wednesday. 

The department’s application for the task force model is pending review by the village board, Blount said, and the board’s vote will be posted on a meeting agenda before it takes place. 

Officers who will be involved must take 40 hours of training and education, which has not started yet, Blount said.  

A financial boon

Blount said the program would come with significant financial incentives from the federal government. 

At the time of his interview with the Wisconsin Examiner, Blount was unsure of the exact amounts that Palmyra would receive. He later sent the Examiner a press release from the Department of Homeland Security dated Sept. 17, which includes details about reimbursement opportunities that will begin Oct. 1. 

A 287(g) fact sheet on ICE’s website contains a section titled “Task Force Model Reimbursement Plan Benefits,” which include $7,500 for equipment for each trained task force officer, $100,000 for new vehicles, salary and benefits reimbursed per trained task force officer and overtime funds up to 25% of salary.

Agencies will also be able to receive quarterly performance awards, up to $1,000 per eligible task force officer, based on “the successful location of illegal aliens provided by ICE and overall assistance to further ICE’s mission to defend the homeland,” the ICE press release states.

In an email message, Village Board President Tim Gorsegner said the board hasn’t discussed the proposal yet, has no official position and will set up a future meeting to hear comments from the public.

In his interview, Blount said he believes he and the board are listening to community questions.

“We’ve had a fair amount of support and a fair amount of, lack of a better term, negativity and pushback for the potential pending agreement,” Blount said. “So we’re listening to both sides and listening to that feedback, and I think obviously the board then will make their decision based on that.”

Blount said he didn’t think the village board would weigh in on the specifics of how he participates in the agreement. 

“They usually don’t get involved in my operations per se,” he said.

This report has been updated with a response from the village board about the proposal. 

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

SUBSCRIBE