Santa Clara Co. Sheriff's Office wants cellphone tracking system

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office hopes to get a new type of weapon of sorts for its arsenal. It's a cellphone tracking system that has drawn controversy in many communities across America.

Community members are voicing their concerns about a new device the sheriff is considering called a cellphone triangulation tracking system -- also known as a stingray -- that could be used to help locate missing at-risk individuals or high-level offenders.

"We have no intentions of using this type of technology to eavesdrop on people," said Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. "You know, the California constitution, the California laws are very very specific about when we can listen to private conversations."

The sheriff's office has looked in to this, ever since the disappearance of 15-year-old Sierra LaMar back in 2012.

They say the $500,000 device would be secured by a Homeland Security grant, and collect cellphone data to pinpoint a more defined location of the person being sought.

It would only be used after obtaining a search warrant from a judge, unless it was a life-or-death situation.

But here's the catch -- the sheriff's office only has until May to finalize the deal, otherwise the funds will be dispersed to another community. Community members say this feels like a rushed process.

"We all need to be intimately familiar with what this equipment can and cannot do so that we can set some rules and regulations to it," said Raj Jayadev with Silicon Valley De-Bug.

It's an issue shared by San Jose's Independent Police Auditor, retired Judge LaDoris Cordell.

"Even if the judge does issue a warrant for capturing the data of a particular phone, the stingray can capture all the cellphone signals that are coming from other people's phones, and that's of concern to me," she said.

The sheriff's office says it's trying to be as transparent as possible.

"To us, we want to be able to have that capability, because if we could potentially save one life, then that's a victory for us and the community," Stenderup said.

The proposal will go before the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for approval on Tuesday.