A Manhattan judge has decided against compelling the New York City Police Department to comply with a request for information about its “Stingray” cellphone tracking devices, reasoning that disclosure could empower criminals to better avoid capture.

Ruling from the bench on Wednesday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler dismissed the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Article 78 proceeding, which it filed in 2016 after the NYPD did provide all the information that the NYCLU asked for through a Freedom of Information Law request about the department’s use of cell-site simulators, such as how many of the devices the department purchased and how much it paid for them.