At the time, information about the sort of tech MDPD was using to surveil its citizens was fairly sparse, especially because Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Maurice Kemp claimed the info was so sensitive he cited a public-records exemption to avoid talking about the phone-tracking technology. For years, MDPD had been sharing that cell-phone-reading tech — which can ostensibly intercept text messages, emails, phone calls, and GPS location data from pretty much anyone's phone — with other departments around the county.

Without the Pen Link Lincoln System, we cannot obtain cellular site information and are not able to track cellular phones, which is necessary to locate violent felony offenders.

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PenLink has been selling tracking technology to cops for years, but its software has come under increased scrutiny as smartphones have come to dominate nearly every aspect of Americans' lives. Infamously, activists during the Ferguson Black Lives Matter protests in said their phones seemed to conveniently stop working when certain police vehicles drove near them — and reporters later unveiled records suggesting cops were, in fact, listening in on activists' private communications while the demonstrations unfurled. It's unclear if any of PenLink's technology was used in that case. In , CityLab reported that most of America's largest police departments have quietly obtained phone-snooping tech without much — or, in some cases, any — public disclosure over the past decade.

Other smaller nearby police departments, including Hialeah, have contracts with PenLink, however. Previously, MPD has said that if it needed to intercept a suspect's phone, the department would file a request with county police — but now, the city says county cops have restricted outside departments' access to the software for budgeting reasons. So now MPD wants its own spying technology. Previously, county officials had been less than forthcoming about the situations in which cops were using PenLink's systems to surveil Miamians.

But in statements sent to the city's procurement department, MPD claims cops will use the service to find missing persons and "violent offenders" throughout the city. In cases of major catastrophes and major cases, as in Officer-involved incidents or major violent cases, the City of Miami would request the assistance of our Partner Police Departments.

All the local municipalities and Federal Agencies within South Florida utilize the Pen Link system; therefore to give us full compatibility we would need to utilize the same Pen Link system. The city says the software can intercept telecommunications data — meaning phone calls and GPS data from cell towers — as well as IP data, including web search information. City documents state the system is capable of "live interception" and can be rapidly deployed to track moving targets essentially in real time.

PenLink's site says the PLX system lets cops easily map out data swiped from cell phones and create charts and graphs of suspects' social networks and location histories.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement also use PenLink software to track people. Engaging with our readers is essential to Miami New Times's mission.

Make a financial contribution or sign up for a newsletter, and help us keep telling Miami's stories with no paywalls. Police-reform advocates for years, however, have warned that as cell-tracking and spying technology has proliferated, courts and city governments haven't placed enough restrictions or checks on when cops are allowed to remotely snoop through people's phones. Around the turn of the new millennium, cell trackers were mostly the purview of military officials and federal law enforcement agents. But like most new types of military technology, local police officers have gained increased access to the software in recent years.

MPD, for example, has also long used the service Cellebrite , which can extract data saved on phones obtained by the department. With HiddenEye, now you can know the someone has tried to snoop into your phone. You can also trigger sound if someone is trying to unlock your phone with wrong password thrice. You will see a place holder image instead of a real picture. If you have a front camera, then you will see the real picture of the intruder.

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