In March of 2026, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Criminal Investigations Division asked for approval to spend $4,487,500 on a Cognyte surveillance setup. Actually, what they requested was \u201capproval for emergency purchase necessary to protect the safety and welfare of state personnel and property. Delaying the procurement process could result in unacceptable safety risks to personnel and compromise operational readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The request memo<\/a> is chock-full of urgency and dramatic language\u2014peppered with terms like \u201cemergency\u201d and \u201cimmediate.\u201d But no specifics are mentioned. \u201cAny delay in procuring would compromise employee safety, public safety, operational readiness, and overall mission success,\u201d the memo states, without saying how or why this brand-new, very expensive technology is suddenly essential to operations.<\/p>\n Naturally, it wasn\u2019t just $4.5 million for four 2026 Chevy Tahoes, though the SUVs themselves were still bizarrely expensive at $150,000 a piece. Here\u2019s how the purchase order<\/a> breaks down:<\/p>\n FalcoNet Core System (x4): $2,850,000<\/p>\n Unlicensed FalcoNet core system: $200,000<\/p>\n Delta 5G Perpetual license for FalcoNet V (x4): $280,000<\/p>\n 2026 Chevrolet Tahoe (x4): $600,000<\/p>\n FalcoNet Backpack core V2 \u2013 6 x BTS (2G\/3G\/4G\/5G): $355,500<\/p>\n Flexable [sic] antenna kit: $27,000<\/p>\n Cognyte PA Ranger: $105,000<\/p>\n Unlicensed FalcoNet Backpack core V2 \u2013 6 x BTS (2G\/3G\/4G\/5G): $70,000<\/p>\n Total PO Amount: $4,487,500<\/p>\n So, yeah, that\u2019s how (and why) Texas police spent $4.5 million on four Tahoes. They\u2019re bristling with really expensive peeping equipment.<\/p>\n As for the FalcoNet system itself, the core principle people are rightfully freaking out about<\/a> is the fact that it can hoover up private data from unsuspecting people en masse and in secret. I don\u2019t consider myself a person with anything to hide, but I still hate this with a passion. Just the other day, a member of our very own staff<\/a> was wrongfully detained by corporate-controlled cop tech!<\/p>\n And as Cybernews<\/a> pointed out, the legality of such things is still questionable. In fact, the Supreme Court ruled (Chatrie v United States<\/a>)\u00a0\u201cthat people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in location data revealing their movements, and that even short-term tracking of that kind counts as a search under the Fourth Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n We have been and will continue to cover the rapidly evolving corpo-surveillance state we\u2019re all driving around in, because it affects infrastructure and road travel (driving) in such a major way.<\/p>\n But we can also get into the specifics of this technology, too, since I found the FalcoNet user guide<\/a> and thought you might be curious about how it works exactly. GM has a standard cop loadout for the Tahoe: Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicles<\/a> come with a V8, big brakes, robust suspension, secondary battery, and 250-amp alternator.<\/p>\n The FalcoNet system itself breaks down thusly:<\/p>\n Dimensions & Form Factor: The core module measures 563mm x 200mm x 86mm (designed as a 2U half 19\u201d rack drawer) and weighs 8kg.<\/p>\n Hardware Interface: The module features RJ45 LAN ports, a 4-way Amphenol Power connector, SMA panel connectors for GPS and clock synchronization, and QN-Type connectors for RF input and antenna output.<\/p>\n Power: It requires a DC power input of 24v to 36v, drawing about 35 watts at idle and 260 watts at full power transmission.<\/p>\n Kits: Government purchase orders (such as one from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement) show that the system is modular and sold in \u201cDeployment Kits\u201d packaged in SKB Pelican cases containing the core Software Defined Radio (SDR) base stations, power distribution units, and directional antenna kits<\/p>\n From the outside, I suspect these Tahoes will look pretty regular. Standard antenna-hiding tactics include making a slightly raised false roof, hiding them in what looks like a Thule ski box, or using little pucks. But for $4.5 million, I\u2019m sure Cognyte will be able to make these SUVs look as scary or nondescript as Texas DPS wants.<\/p>\n Got a story tip? Drop us a line at tips@thedrive.com.<\/p>\n Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20962,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-373623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-chevrolet","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cognyte-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cognyte-2.jpg\")
\nFalcoNet hardware Cognyte<\/p>\n