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Just the factsThe telephone wiretap remains a vital tool for law enforcement— especially with the advent of cell phones, pagers and otherportable communication devices. Here are some facts on globalwiretap activities — and a look at some of the challenges andcontroversies surrounding these activities.Of 2,376 wiretaps authorized by U.S. courts in 2009, 96 percent were designated for portable devices such as cellulartelephones and pagers.Italy employs more communications intercepts per capitathan any other country — 76 per 100,000 residents,according to research by the Max Planck Society. Next in lineis the Netherlands at 62 intercepts per 100,000 residents.German police conducted 5,348 telephone surveillanceoperations in 2008, up from 4,806 in 2007.Between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009, Australian policeforces made 1,715 arrests and obtained 2,109 criminalconvictions based on intercepted telecommunicationsinformation.Eighty-six per cent of all wiretap applications submitted toAmerican courts in 2009 listed illegal drugs as the primaryoffence under investigation.In 2009, the average American wiretap lasted 42 days,intercepted the conversations of 113 people and uncoveredincriminating communications 19 per cent of the time.Australian law enforcement agencies spent an average ofAU$16,480 per telecommunications interception warrant inthe year ending June 30, 2009.BlackBerry smartphones are among the most difficult mobilecommunications devices to wiretap due to their high levelsof network security and data encryption.Extending wiretap legislation to Internet telephony servicesrequires service providers to build “backdoors” into theirsystems — potentially creating holes for hackers to exploit,say experts quoted in Technology Review and IEEE Spectrummagazines.Sixty-eight per cent of respondents in a 2006 New YorkTimes/CBS News poll said they would be willing to supportgovernmental monitoring of the communications of“Americans the government is suspicious of” — but 70 percent of respondents said they would not be willing to supportsuch monitoring of “ordinary Americans.”In 2008, law enforcement agencies in the U.K. reported 50errors or breaches in intercepting communications — mostthe result of human, procedural or technical error — accordingto a report by the U.K. Interception of CommunicationsCommissioner.Between 2000 and 2008, major Canadian police forcesemployed warrantless “emergency” wiretaps in at least 267cases, all involving unusual circumstances such as hijackingsor hostage takings.In 2008, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled the use ofemergency wiretaps unconstitutional.In March 2010, following a complaint filed by 35,000 citizens,the German Federal Constitutional Court rejected a dataretention law requiring telecommunications companies tokeep call and traffic data for six months, citing that the lawviolated privacy rights.SOURCES: Administrative Office of the United States Courts, “2009 wiretap report”: www.uscourts.gov/Statistics/WiretapReports/WiretapReport2009.aspx; The Register, “Italy tops global wiretap league” (7 March 2007): www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/07/wiretap_trends_ss8 ; DeutscheWelle, “New statistics show rise in police telephone surveillance” (23 Sept. 2009): www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4716600,00.html ; AustralianGovernment Attorney-General’s Department, “Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 - Annual report for the year ending 30 June2009”: www.ppsr.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Publications_Telecommunications(InterceptionandAccess)Act1979-AnnualReportfortheyearending-30June2009 ; CBC News, “Criminals love the BlackBerry’s wiretap-proof ways: police” (24 March 2009): www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/24/tech-090324-blackberry-wiretap.html ; Technology Review, “How legal wiretaps could let hackers in” (4 Feb. 2010): www.technologyreview.com/computing/24477/?a=f ; IEEE Spectrum, “Wiretapping woes” (May 2007): spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/wiretapping-woes ; The New YorkTimes, “New poll finds mixed support for wiretaps” (27 Jan. 2006): www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/politics/27poll.html ; U.K. Interception of CommunicationsCommissioner, “Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner for 2008”: www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0809/hc09/0901/0901.asp ; CBC News, “Secret police wiretaps fly under the radar” (29 June 2009): www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/26/police-emergency-wiretaps.html ; European Digital Rights, “German Federal Constitutional Court rejects data retention law” (10 March 2010): www.26edri.org/edrigram/number8.5/german-decision-data-retention-unconstitutionalGazetteVol. 72, No. 3, 2010
Mapping tool helps police share informationby kevin MasonManager, Crime &intelligence Analysis unitOttawa Police ServiceThe Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has longrecognized the value of sharing informationabout crimes in the community and publicsafety. To enhance community awarenessand improve accessibility to calls for serviceoccurring in the community, the OttawaPolice has found a way to easily mergeGeographic Information Systems technologywith police data for public information.The Ottawa Police Service receives inexcess of 350,000 calls for police assistanceeach year, resulting in about 107,000 reportsand 40,000 criminal offences. The OttawaPolice recently found a low-cost and userfriendlyway to share more information onwhere, when and what calls for assistanceare generated within the city.Customer service toolIn October 2008, the Ottawa Police becamethe first major Canadian police service tolaunch the Google-based crime mappingtool called CrimeReports.The OPS looked at several options whenreviewing their mapping application needsincluding the impact on cost, resources, andtime.The CrimeReports option proved tobe the most cost-efficient, requiring fewersupport resources and providing a brightpicture for future enhancements. As well,the provider worked to accommodaterequests to use Canadian nomenclature andlaunch enhancements to the site based onfeedback from users.Provided at no cost to the user, detailedinformation related to each call for mobileresponse received is easily accessed,including the geographical area to the 100block, the time and type of the incident, andthe final incident type, which is establishedonce an officer has assessed the call.Users can do specific data searches basedon their own interest such as geography,crime type or even time parameters.For example, users can search for breakand enters and limit the search to their ownneighbourhood and the date range of theirchoice.An alert function also allows users tohave information sent to their private emailaddress each time a call for service occursin their neighbourhood.For those wishing to analyze the data, thewebsite easily transfers the information intographs allowing users to view the overallsummary in an accurate and timely fashion.Demand was so high in the first 24 hoursafter launch, the system was overloaded andthe server crashed due to increased trafficon the site; something the service providerhad not experienced in the United Stateswhere over 175 law enforcement agencieshave signed on as clients.Operational support toolThe introduction of this mapping platformhas strengthened the lines of communicationbetween Community Police Centre officers,members of the public and crime preventiongroups such as Neighbourhood Watch thatmonitor crime activity in their areas.Officers are able to review mobile policeresponse within their catchment areas and canliaise with both commercial and residentialproperty owners on current problem activityand related prevention initiatives.NEW TEChNOlOGyAdditionally, officers are able to meetwith individuals and groups wishingto learn more about police presence byusing the tool as an interactive “table-top”reference guide.In many cases, discussions in thisenvironment often bring forward additionalinformation to support police investigationsand provide an opportunity for the OttawaPolice to demonstrate proactive policepresence and activities in an area to supportthe suppression and prevention of crime.For the futureOPS has adopted a progressive and phasedapproach to enhancing the site, which isbased on user-generated feedback (eachuser sees a pop-up feedback box).Since its launch, the Ottawa Policemapping tool has undergone three upgrades,including the expanded detail listing ofthe property taken at individual incidents;addition of the final call case type; and atabulated format option for those wanting tomanipulate the data for analysis. ▪For more information, visit:www.ottawapolice.caThe Ottawa Police Service’s crime mapping tool shows detailed information for each call for mobile response received.Courtesy Ottawa Police ServiceGazette Vol. 72, No. 3, 2010 27
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