Police in Florida using tracking devices and GPS locators in cell phones to track suspects.
The same technologies we use every day — cell phones, social networking, GPS — also are used by law enforcement to investigate, track and arrest criminals. The problem, critics say, is when these technologies are used without oversight — and to erode privacy.
A judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently called out his fellow judges on both counts.
His rebuke came after the court ruled that federal agents could not only plant a GPS tracking device on a vehicle without getting a warrant, but they could go onto private property to do so.
That was too much for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski.
"The needs of law enforcement, to which my colleagues seem inclined to refuse nothing, are quickly making personal privacy a distant memory," he wrote in a widely read dissent.
How GPS tracking is used in Florida depends on which agency is using it. Local, state and federal officers follow different rules.
According to Florida law, local and state agencies need a judge's approval to use GPS tracking. But the standard they have to meet isn't as high as the standard for obtaining a search warrant.
To search someone's home or business, officers must have a reasonable belief that the person committed a crime.
To use GPS tracking, they simply must convince a judge that it's "relevant" to their investigation, said University of Florida law professor Michael L. Seigel.
"It's a much lower standard," he said. "It's not requiring them to show any suspicion about an individual's guilt."
There's also an easy way around state law. Local agencies could just ask the federal government for help. Federal agents don't need a warrant to use GPS tracking devices in Florida, Seigel said.
"Everybody's working in a joint task force these days," said Escobar. "They can ask the federal government to do things they can't do in the state system."
Link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1128724.ece