The Tucson Police Department (TPD) used a $277,500 grant from Arizona’s Border Security Fund to purchase a controversial AI-powered surveillance tool from Cobwebs Technologies. Despite the funding source, TPD admitted the “Tangles” software has not been used for border-related crimes. Instead, it was deployed for domestic surveillance, including monitoring public events, tracking a robbery suspect via mobile ad IDs, and surveilling protesters. Civil liberties advocates and state legislators have condemned the purchase as warrantless surveillance that circumvents Fourth Amendment protections by using data broker information. While TPD claims its use was “exploratory” and constitutional because it only uses “publicly available information,” the department does not plan to renew the contract.