New federal rules won’t change how WPD uses surveillance device

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington Police do not plan to change the way they use some high-tech surveillance gadgets.

Yesterday the US Department of Justice said federal agents would have to get a warrant to use devices called Stingrays, which act like cell towers to intercept cell phone called, and limit what info they can collect to signal direction of the phone, as opposed to GPS data, and to number being dialed as opposed to content of conservations, messages or other data.

A spokeswoman says WPD already gets warrants to use Stingrays, and that the new federal standards won’t change how cops here use them. She would not, though, say what information WPD officers collect with the devices.