Texas spent $4.5 million on four Chevrolet Tahoes for its state police. Only $600,000 of that total actually paid for the four SUVs.
The rest funded surveillance gear from Cognyte, an Israeli company that sweeps nearby cellphones.
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Emergency Purchase Details
According to procurement documents obtained by The Drive, the Texas Department of Public Safety approved an emergency purchase worth $4,487,500 from Cognyte.
The company competes with U. S.
analytics firm Palantir in the government and security sectors.
Texas DPS justified bypassing normal procurement by citing an urgent need to protect personnel and public safety. The publicly released request provides no details explaining the emergency.
The purchase includes four 2026 Chevrolet Tahoes listed at $150,000 each, totaling $600,000.
The remaining $3.9 million funds four FalcoNet core systems ($2.85 million), software licenses, portable backpack-based surveillance units, antennas, and supporting equipment.
FalcoNet is a cellular interception system designed to identify and collect information from nearby mobile devices.
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The technology can also be deployed from helicopters or carried in backpack configurations.
Once switched on, FalcoNet casts a digital net over nearby cellular devices before narrowing its focus to a specific target.
By identifying phones within range and filtering for known identifiers, investigators can track a suspect's movements without initially knowing exactly where that device is.
Privacy advocates argue that approach inevitably involves collecting information from countless uninvolved people first. The technology is as controversial as it is powerful.
Law enforcement agencies argue technology like FalcoNet can help locate suspects and find missing people more quickly.
Critics counter that the same capabilities make it easier to collect information from innocent bystanders, often without their knowledge.
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Texas taxpayers didn't simply buy four Chevy Tahoes. They funded four rolling surveillance platforms whose most expensive component isn't under the hood, but hidden inside.
