Cell site simulator documents (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to North Carolina Public Records Law (G.S. §§ 132-1 through 132-10), I hereby request the following documents:

A copy of all agreements, contracts, memos or emails between the Boston Police Department and the Harris Corporation.
A copy of all agreements, contracts, memos or emails between the Boston Police Department and the Boeing company.
A copy of all meeting minutes for meetings pertaining to cell site simulators, IMSI catchers, "Stingray" devices, "DRTBox" devices or "KingFish" devices.
A copy of all letters, agreements or other documents containing guidelines or instructions for responding to FOIA requests or equivalent state or local law pertaining to the Harris Corporation, Boeing, cell site simulators, IMSI catchers, "Stingray" devices, "DRTBox" devices or "KingFish" devices.

1. Records regarding your agency's acquisition of cell site simulators (also referred to as "IMSI catchers", "StingRay" devices, "DRTBox" devices or "KingFish" devices — "cell site simulators" below), including but not limited to invoices, purchase orders, contracts, loan agreements, evaluation agreements, solicitation letters, correspondence with companies and public agencies that provide the devices, and similar documents

2. Records regarding any offer, proposal, arrangement, agreement, or memorandum of understanding with Naval Criminal Investigative Service ("NCICS"), Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), U.S. Marshals Service, FBI's Data Intercept Technology Unit ("DITU"), or any corporation, to borrow, permanently acquire from, or use any cell site simulator owned or possessed by these organizations

3. All nondisclosure agreements with Harris Corporation, Digital Receiver Technology (DRT, formerly Utica Systems, now a subsidiary of Boeing Corporation), Septier Communication Limited, Proximus LLC, any other corporation, and any state or federal agencies, regarding your agency's actual or potential possession or use of cell site simulators

4. Records regarding policies and guidelines governing use of cell site simulators, including but not limited to :
a) when, where, how, and against whom the devices may and may not be used
b) logging, retention, purging, use, and auditing data stored in or communicated from the devices
c) under what circumstances administrative warrant, judicial warrant, or other legal process must, should, or should not be obtained prior to, during, or following direct or indirect use of the devices
d) under what circumstances the existence or use of the devices must, should, or should not be revealed to judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, criminal defendants, or the general public
e) parallel construction techniques for use in avoidance of disclosure of the initial method of discovery of information gained initially by use of cell site simulators

5. Training materials for use of cell site simulators

6. Any licenses, waivers, or agreements with federal or state communications regulatory agencies (e.g., Federal Communications Commission, North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), North Carolina Office of the Attorney General, etc.) concerning use of cell site simulators

7. Records reflecting the number of investigations in which cell site simulators were used, the number of those investigations that resulted in prosecutions, and the number of those investigations that resulted in convictions

8. The standard trap and trace/pen register application used to request authorization for use of cell site simulators in an investigation.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I would request your response within ten (10) business days.

Sincerely,

Nick de la Canal

I will note, upon review, I mistakenly wrote "Boston Police Department" where I should have written "Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department" twice in the second paragraph. Please let me know if you can edit this, or if I will need to submit a corrected request.

All best,
Nick

Hello Mr. Weaving,

As a point of information, would be it possible to obtain the email address for the Police Department's attorney so that future communications and follow-ups may be sent directly?

Thank you.

Thanks Judy.

Would you please specify what exemption to the North Carolina Public Records law you're denying this request under? I'll need that information for the appeal.

Thank you!
Nick

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Nick de la Canal
704-576-0116
nicholas.delacanal@gmail.com

Thanks, Judy.

Also, I had a quick question you might be able to help me with - the Charlotte Observer published a story on October of 2014 that reported on cell site simulators used by CMPD (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article9203591.html), and the article sources documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

I'm not sure how they obtained those documents through FOIA if the documents are, indeed, exempt from the state's public records law. Did they request different documents than the ones I requested?

If not, I might be interested in seeing any correspondence CMPD had with the Observer in relation to obtaining these documents in order to assist in my own appeal.

Thanks so much,
Nick

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Nick de la Canal
704-576-0116