Texting Out The 4th Amendment
Suzanne Smalley writes in The Boston Globe today that Boston Police are hoping to boost anonymous crime accusations by inviting tipsters to text their tips. ("Crime solvers tap into texting - Police hope to get aid from young.")
The police claim that the purpose of this innovation is to combat a "Stop Snitchin' ethos" among young people in the inner city.
Some might think that the way to combat a "Stop Snitchin' ethos" is to have a criminal law enforcement system of police, prosecutors, and judges that people in the inner city trust and respect, rather than hate and fear.
Boston has a better idea. Use text messaging from cell phones. Apparently the reason why a "Stop Snitchin' ethos" would fail to discourage texted tips - even though it stops the same kids from using the same cell phones to make their crime reports in the form of spoken words - is that the texted tips would be even more anonymous. A 911 voice call is taped, and recorded voices are identifiable.
The problem is bogus tips, of course. A tip, bogus or not, has achieved nearly the authority in our country of a search or arrest warrant signed by a judge. So somebody who for any reason would like to see you busted can send an armed paramilitary force your way with a phone call. There are guidelines that supposedly limit the power of the police to break into your home or prone you out on the street on the basis of an anonymous tip, but they only come up if the tipster doesn't happen to know the minimums they have to satisfy; some lawyer is willing to raise the guidelines as an issue in a courtroom; and some judge thinks the lawyer "whining" about "technicalities" is worth paying attention to. Meanwhile, the police have already come and gone, perhaps taking a family member with them, perhaps leaving some teeth on the floor.
That's the way it works. And in Boston, it's going to start working that way a lot better, thanks to creative use of modern technology.
The police claim that the purpose of this innovation is to combat a "Stop Snitchin' ethos" among young people in the inner city.
Some might think that the way to combat a "Stop Snitchin' ethos" is to have a criminal law enforcement system of police, prosecutors, and judges that people in the inner city trust and respect, rather than hate and fear.
Boston has a better idea. Use text messaging from cell phones. Apparently the reason why a "Stop Snitchin' ethos" would fail to discourage texted tips - even though it stops the same kids from using the same cell phones to make their crime reports in the form of spoken words - is that the texted tips would be even more anonymous. A 911 voice call is taped, and recorded voices are identifiable.
The problem is bogus tips, of course. A tip, bogus or not, has achieved nearly the authority in our country of a search or arrest warrant signed by a judge. So somebody who for any reason would like to see you busted can send an armed paramilitary force your way with a phone call. There are guidelines that supposedly limit the power of the police to break into your home or prone you out on the street on the basis of an anonymous tip, but they only come up if the tipster doesn't happen to know the minimums they have to satisfy; some lawyer is willing to raise the guidelines as an issue in a courtroom; and some judge thinks the lawyer "whining" about "technicalities" is worth paying attention to. Meanwhile, the police have already come and gone, perhaps taking a family member with them, perhaps leaving some teeth on the floor.
That's the way it works. And in Boston, it's going to start working that way a lot better, thanks to creative use of modern technology.
Labels: 4th Amendment, anonymous tips, Boston Police, civil rights, police brutality, police misconduct, Suzanne Smalley, texting
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