mikeypopo,
I fully appreciate where you're coming from. With that said, are there any related issues which you would feel comfortable discussing (in very broad terms) here? Personally, I'd like to encourage some further discussion of LE competence/practice if possible as it's an area of interest to me and (clearly) many others. No problem whatsoever if you'd rather not elaborate any further, though.
Jamie
Let's just say there's a reason we have "Miranda" in the US. It's not really a "us vs them" issue. I don't personally LIKE the LEO's that are making these mistakes. They are generally arrogant. That arrogance causes negligence and it is going to SOME DAY cause either detrimental case law or really restrict what we can use as evidence. Like back in the "old days" … Search Warrants only applied to Constitutional Officers (Feds, Revenuers, Tax Men, etc). So these Federal Officers would call up the local yokel and say (use Southern drawl here) "Golly Sheriff Buddy, there's a feller over there that's got a moonshine still in his basement. I can't prove it, but why don't you do yer old Fed buddy a favor and go over and see?"
I won't mention what is going on that parallels these acts now but I am afraid that the same lack of standards that applies to the private side is TWICE as dangerous on the LE side. Two reasons (1) the criminal case law is watched closer than civil to create statute. There is not a lot of statute out there so what we do now is going to not only haunt us by precedent but also stay in the books until the legislature changes it and (2) LEO's are generally less educated (with regards to digital forensics). (This lack of education falls mainly on the part of the LEA's … not the LEO's.) It's that lack of knowledge base coupled with their imminent and immediate acceptance into the judicial system as an expert that is frightening.
There Jamie. I hope that was vague enough but also cuts to the heart of the matter. This is also why I support and would like to be a member of the LE only forum. It's dirty laundry and I would personally prefer to wash it behind closed doors. Also, on a side note, LEO's are notorious for not asking for help, or admitting they dont' know something. At least this way they know everyone reading it is thin blue line.
"Two reasons (1) the criminal case law is watched closer than civil to create statute"
IMHO I believe the opposite. People are watching the civil side and you only need google E discovery vs CF and see how many people are doing what on both sides.
For the new FRCP as an example there were years and years of talk, Sedona, and meetings before anything happened. Sanctions are far worse on the civil side of things than could ever be on the criminal side. Taking away someone's freedom means they will probably get back to society one day. Multi milliion dollar sanctions hurt everyone in the world for higher prices of everyday services and items.
New data retention discussions have everyone scrambling to figure out what to do in case you "foresee" possible litigation.
Thanks mikeypopo. I'd be interested to hear if practitioners in other countries have similar experiences to share, or whether this is primarily a US issue.
Jamie
Well, either way you believe armresl - the point is poor practices are going to hurt the field public or private. This discussion is regarding an LE-only forum. If you would like to discuss the strength of criminal vs civil case law I would love to in another forum.
Yea Jamie, I also would like to hear if UKs and Aussies have the same problems. I doubt it though - from the quality I see coming out of the UK and AUS (and Europe) we are behind the times. I can infer why but I don't want to tick off anybody…)
I too would be interested to see if my observations regarding other countries' LEOs are accurate.
Ben,
Is there any other method of proving my status? After over a year I.T. still hasn't given me a county email address and even if I did have one I could work for ANY county office. Can I email you my police graduation photo, driver's license, I.D., badge, etc? I could even give you a link to my state's police council so you could very easily verify me. PM me and let me know.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,
You've got a PM.
Ben