You Can Run But You Can’t Hide
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 20th, 2012
Good morning!
Police Are Using Phone Tracking as a Routine Tool
WASHINGTON — Law enforcement tracking of cellphones, once the province mainly of federal agents, has become a powerful and widely used surveillance tool for local police officials, with hundreds of departments, large and small, often using it aggressively with little or no court oversight, documents show.
The practice has become big business for cellphone companies, too, with a handful of carriers marketing a catalog of “surveillance fees” to police departments to determine a suspect’s location, trace phone calls and texts or provide other services. Some departments log dozens of traces a month for both emergencies and routine investigations.
With cellphones ubiquitous, the police call phone tracing a valuable weapon in emergencies like child abductions and suicide calls and investigations in drug cases and murders. One police training manual describes cellphones as “the virtual biographer of our daily activities,” providing a hunting ground for learning contacts and travels.
But civil liberties advocates say the wider use of cell tracking raises legal and constitutional questions, particularly when the police act without judicial orders. While many departments require warrants to use phone tracking in nonemergencies, others claim broad discretion to get the records on their own, according to 5,500 pages of internal records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union from 205 police departments nationwide.
The internal documents, which were provided to The New York Times, open a window into a cloak-and-dagger practice that police officials are wary about discussing publicly. While cell tracking by local police departments has received some limited public attention in the last few years, the A.C.L.U. documents show that the practice is in much wider use — with far looser safeguards — than officials have previously acknowledged.
The issue has taken on new legal urgency in light of a Supreme Court ruling in January finding that a Global Positioning System tracking device placed on a drug suspect’s car violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches. While the ruling did not directly involve cellphones — many of which also include GPS locators — it raised questions about the standards for cellphone tracking, lawyers say.
The police records show many departments struggling to understand and abide by the legal complexities of cellphone tracking, even as they work to exploit the technology.
In cities in Nevada, North Carolina and other states, police departments have gotten wireless carriers to track cellphone signals back to cell towers as part of nonemergency investigations to identify all the callers using a particular tower, records show.
In California, state prosecutors advised local police departments on ways to get carriers to “clone” a phone and download text messages while it is turned off.
In Ogden, Utah, when the Sheriff’s Department wants information on a cellphone, it leaves it up to the carrier to determine what the sheriff must provide. “Some companies ask that when we have time to do so, we obtain court approval for the tracking request,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a written response to the A.C.L.U.
And in Arizona, even small police departments found cell surveillance so valuable that they acquired their own tracking equipment to avoid the time and expense of having the phone companies carry out the operations for them. The police in the town of Gilbert, for one, spent $244,000 on such equipment.
Cell carriers, staffed with special law enforcement liaison teams, charge police departments from a few hundred dollars for locating a phone to more than $2,200 for a full-scale wiretap of a suspect, records show.
Most of the police departments cited in the records did not return calls seeking comment. But other law enforcement officials said the legal questions were outweighed by real-life benefits.
The police in Grand Rapids, Mich., for instance, used a cell locator in February to find a stabbing victim who was in a basement hiding from his attacker.
“It’s pretty valuable, simply because there are so many people who have cellphones,” said Roxann Ryan, a criminal analyst with Iowa’s state intelligence branch. “We find people,” she said, “and it saves lives.”
Many departments try to keep cell tracking secret, the documents show, because of possible backlash from the public and legal problems. Although there is no evidence that the police have listened to phone calls without warrants, some defense lawyers have challenged other kinds of evidence gained through warrantless cell tracking.
“Do not mention to the public or the media the use of cellphone technology or equipment used to locate the targeted subject,” the Iowa City Police Department warned officers in one training manual. It should also be kept out of police reports, it advised.
In Nevada, a training manual warned officers that using cell tracing to locate someone without a warrant “IS ONLY AUTHORIZED FOR LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES!!” The practice, it said, had been “misused” in some standard investigations to collect information the police did not have the authority to collect.
“Some cell carriers have been complying with such requests, but they cannot be expected to continue to do so as it is outside the scope of the law,” the advisory said. “Continued misuse by law enforcement agencies will undoubtedly backfire.”
Another training manual prepared by California prosecutors in 2010 advises police officials on “how to get the good stuff” using cell technology.
The presentation said that since the Supreme Court first ruled on wiretapping law in 1928 in a Prohibition-era case involving a bootlegger, “subtler and more far-reaching means of invading privacy have become available to the government.”
Technological breakthroughs, it continued, have made it possible for the government “to obtain disclosure in court of what is whispered in the closet.”
In interviews, lawyers and law enforcement officials agreed that there was uncertainty over what information the police are entitled to get legally from cell companies, what standards of evidence they must meet and when courts must get involved.
A number of judges have come to conflicting decisions in balancing cellphone users’ constitutional privacy rights with law enforcement’s need for information.
In a 2010 ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, said a judge could require the authorities to obtain a warrant based on probable cause before demanding cellphone records or location information from a provider. (A similar case from Texas is pending in the Fifth Circuit.)
“It’s terribly confusing, and it’s understandable, when even the federal courts can’t agree,” said Michael Sussman, a Washington lawyer who represents cell carriers. The carriers “push back a lot” when the police urgently seek out cell locations or other information in what are purported to be life-or-death situations, he said. “Not every emergency is really an emergency.”
Congress and about a dozen states are considering legislative proposals to tighten restrictions on the use of cell tracking.
While cell tracing allows the police to get records and locations of users, the A.C.L.U. documents give no indication that departments have conducted actual wiretapping operations — listening to phone calls — without court warrants required under federal law.
Much of the debate over phone surveillance in recent years has focused on the federal government and counterterrorism operations, particularly a once-secret program authorized by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks. It allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on phone calls of terrorism suspects and monitor huge amounts of phone and e-mail traffic without court-approved intelligence warrants.
Clashes over the program’s legality led Congress to broaden the government’s eavesdropping powers in 2008. As part of the law, the Bush administration insisted that phone companies helping in the program be given immunity against lawsuits.
Since then, the wide use of cell surveillance has seeped down to even small, rural police departments in investigations unrelated to national security.
“It’s become run of the mill,” said Catherine Crump, an A.C.L.U. lawyer who coordinated the group’s gathering of police records. “And the advances in technology are rapidly outpacing the state of the law.”
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Social Butterfly: Yes, there is an lackadaisical attitude of “What can I do?” Or “That’s just the way men are.” – Ugh! The latter really bothers me the most. No, that is just what men do because they can get away with it because women accept it. Well this girl does not accept, it. And like Alycedale said, “Now were (sic) are the women who can get behind you and help support and make our case.” Women are the majority – where are our voices girls? Let’s get rid of the cramp that men have put on us and our vaginas.
PS: Writing out that word is definitely not as much fun as saying it out loud.
Jim Messina: My answer: Yes.
2 Old: That statement isn’t said enough.
Anonymous: She is in all of us if we just listen.
MG-1: Ooh… I forgot about that. That’s a good one for “Just noticing…”
Readers: As usual, blog me your thoughts on anything that moves you.
Peace out…and a beautiful day!
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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June 20th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Barbara Espinosa, radio host of Arizona’s “Hair on Fire” called President Barack Obama the nation’s “first monkey president” live on the air, reports FoxNews.com.
In response to a caller named Richard who was rambling on and on about how he calls the president “Rabbit Ears,” and saying that he would like to know who actually voted for “the idiot” in the White House who is trying to destroy the country, Espinosa chimed in with:
“Well, I don’t call him “rabbit ears,” I call him a monkey,” she said. “I don’t believe in calling him the first Black president, I call him the first Monkey president.”
June 20th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Do you actually think that people voted for Obama because they feared the damage that a McCain (cough cough) Palin team might have done to the country?
Some people who voted for Obama knew exactly what they were doing, and they were not motivated by race.
Liberals are going to vote democrat almost always just like gun toting blue collar republicans are always going to vote republican no matter what Texan village idiot runs for office.
This being said, it is the swing vote with no loyalty to either party who typically makes the difference.
An Ass, a Snake, etc., are not racist terms. Monkey, cracker, beaner… those are racist words. Call some out for their policies and not their race.
Attention will also get this woman off the air as people complain to the FCC and to advertisers supporting this station.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Looking at her FB page, I saw all I needed to. She’s from Dallas. I keep telling you all that these Hispanic folk around here are confused as hell.
They really believe they are white. ROFL. I guess they don’t hear it when the white people call ‘em wetbacks, Spics, beaners and all the other cute names they have for them.
Laugh at this confused chick and move on. She’s overdue for a lesson from her beloved white people.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Don’t forget “Saltwater Ni**ers.” Growing. Up in South FL, I heard that term used for them many times.
As a Black woman I can’t tell you how many times whites have talked about them to me with much disgust. I don’t take up for them because they need a wake up call about how whites view them.
They’re benefiting from our civil rights struggles while kissing a*s of the same people who want to keep them subservient. I have no problem with the new immigration laws the states are passing because they need a reality check.
Yet, here the president is, trying to help them stay here. He needn’t waste his time ….less gangs and drugs. Also, we have no business helping in their struggles….they didn’t and still don’thelp us.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:38 pm
Thin skin here! You can call someone an Ass that no one gets upset, or a Snake and it’s no problem.
Isn’t Obama 50% White? So why does he totally ignore that but makes use of his Black half as if he is totally Black which everyone gives him credit for?
Which is how he got the 98% Black vote, the vote of other minorities thinking he was on their side, the vote of the guilty Whites, the vote of the Liberals…how he became President of the United States.
You gave this woman just what she wanted…attention.
Now prepare yourself for another four years of Kool-Aid drinking Socialism and bending over…or maybe you don’t pay any taxes but benefit from those who do.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
I see all the liberals have come out of the woodwork. If you dont want to hear what she has to say, don’t listen to her.
If you don’t like Big Macs don’t buy one. While I may or may not agree with what she says. I will always defend her right to say it. Wars have been fought so you can have free speech and post your opinion on these web sites. Semper Fi
June 20th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
As a Liberal (or a Left wing Libertarian (please go to politicalcompass.org to find out what the real deal is on your political leanings) I completely agree with your opinion on free speech.
I do wonder though how knowledgeable you are about what liberal means.
I also wonder how you will feel on this subject given your narrow-mindedness on the topic of liberal, when Anglo-Saxons who are rapidly becoming the minority in this country are referred to as those ‘white zombies’, ‘dead fish bellies’, ‘talking corpses’, ‘honky’, etc.
What you will think when having a white President is a rare event and rather than talking truthfully about their policies they will be lied about and referred to in insulting terms. Just a thought.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:46 pm
BM,
again, I’ve never seen such whiny bitches….
Why are you here then? I see “all the racist republicans have come out of the woodwork”. If you don’t like the “liberals” coming out of the woodwork – GO AWAY!?? GEEZ!
If liberals bother you THAT much and get under your skin, go away. It really is that simple.
You make this too easy.
BTW, what about the “BRIC” countries??? You don’t even know what or what that is? Brazil. Russia. India. China. All run socialist economies. They are all THRIVING right now. Brazil has a top 3 economy.
What are “guilty whites”. Sounds racist to me. White people should have the right to vote for whomever they want for whatever reason they want and base our decisions intellectually for the right candidate.
Here’s an article on WHITE people who, quiet as it’s kept, take more welfare than any other group of people.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974473,00.html
Here’s an article that goes back to 2008 warning that the GOP is disintegrating….why be on the losing team that is about to be extinct?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/the_incredible_shrinking_repub.html
Here’s an article, talking about how republicans want government handouts….
http://www.examiner.com/article/new-poll-poor-republicans-want-more-government-help
We are seeing this played out now, that the GOP is favoring Obamacare…but not a word on that from baseman or flagman…..interesting…
In the face of FM, if he is a US Marine, HE GETS GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE…CALLED TRICARE…FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE…YET HE IS A REPUBLICAN….HOW DOES THAT WORK
FM…BITING THE HAND THAT GIVES YOU FREE HEALTHCARE AT THE EXPENSE OF BM AND OTHER REPUBLICANS?
MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/21/politics/gop-census-latino/index.html
Here’s an article of June, 2012 covering the same thing. http://uwire.com/2012/06/14/column-republicans-becoming-an-endangered-species/
BM and FM , you are nothing but tired, old, racist, white pieces of trash…as you can see from all of these links….like Darwin states about survival and evolution, you and your party will be gone soon enough. Not soon enough for us INDEPENDENTS!!!
You two and your ilk have drank the Limbaugh Lemonade just like those stupid fools who caused the Republican Depression, generated by three republican presidents.
Your racist party is done…and the reason why you all are scared and angry is because you are afraid of change.
I feel sorry for you. All you deserve is pity because you and your party are completely pathetic.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
FM, why are you here then? I see “all the racist republicans have come out of the woodwork”. If you don’t like the “liberals” coming out of the woodwork – GO AWAY!?? GEEZ!
If liberals bother you THAT much and get under your skin, go away. It really is that simple.
You make this too easy.
BTW, were you defending Obama when he exercised his 1st Amendment rights to say whatever he wanted a month ago and got chastised for speaking up? NO!
Do NOT say Semper Fi. You are NOT a US Marine. You do not represent the Corps. Your code words of “liberals” is a way to say that you are a conservative.
In fact, your first line, gives you completely away that you are a non-American, unpatriotic piece of trash
Take your own advise. “If you don’t like Big Macs don’t buy one”. If you don’t like liberals, LEAVE!!!
June 20th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Is there any help for this country? How about the kids that beat harassed the elderly bus monitor?
Those Kids are so disrespectful, it makes me cry!!! this lady did not deserve this abuse!!!What is this world coming to?… Where are the parents?..
June 20th, 2012 at 11:03 pm
“When it comes to talk radio both the left and right can, unfortunately, employ a little too much free speech. It is a medium for inspiration and robust debate, not gratuitous insult. I apologize to anyone that was offended by my comments. It was a poor joke off the cuff that deserves apology not example. I am a proud supporter of numerous african-american republicans that have run for office and will continue to do so.”
Barbara Espinosa
American Freedom by Barbara.
http://www.americanfreedombybarbara.com
Hair on FIre Radio Show.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/haironfire
June 20th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
It’s too bad she put her mouth in gear before she thought about what she was saying as opposed to keeping her mouth shut. I get so tired of people callimg other people names, and once exposed to all the name calling, then these people come out with I’m sorry for what I said, B/S*:)!@.
June 20th, 2012 at 11:22 pm
this is, pretty much, what Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and their fellow Republicans have been saying about President Obama since Jan. 20, 2009…only not so crudely worded.
All major Republicans seem to have decided from day one of the Obama administration that there is no need for them to even have to try to keep up an image of civility.
Their blatant hatred of President Obama seethes from virtually every word and act they’ve displayed ever since.
The only difference between them and this commentator is that this commentator is being more honest with the American people about how he feels.
No president in American history has been treated as blatantly disrespectfully as President Obama has. And, in my opinion, it is no coincidence that he happens to be our first African-American president.