SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submission Preview
DOJ tells ALL federal cops to get a warrant for Singray use
According to the Washington Post [washingtonpost.com] all federal law enforcement agencies will need to get a warrant before using a Stingray. (Actual Policy Statement [washingtonpost.com]).
The Justice Department unveiled a policy Thursday that will require its law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant to deploy cellphone-tracking devices in criminal investigations and inform judges when they plan to use them.
The department’s new policy, announced by Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates, should increase transparency around the use of the controversial technology by the FBI and other Justice Department agencies.
... The new policy waives the warrant requirement for exigent circumstances. These include the need to protect human life “or avert serious injury,” prevent the imminent destruction of evidence, the hot pursuit of a fleeing felon, or the prevention of escape by a convicted fugitive from justice.
The FBI had imposed their own internal warrant requirement back in April.
But the policy does not apply to State, and Local agencies that have been given Stingrays with instructions to keep them secret, even to the extent of dismissing charges [arstechnica.com] rather than admit some evidence was gathered by questionable legal means.
So will ill gotten information now flow in reverse, from local to federal authorities? Will the Feds start practicing "Parallel Construction" [thefreethoughtproject.com] using, but hiding, the information supplied by local police?
