Wireless: Cracking down on crime in a cellular era

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

This sets a rather disturbing precedent...

Chris Oakes writes in The International Herald Tribune:

[snip]

When soccer fans rioted in Rotterdam last April - this time targeting the police, not just rival fans - they might have 
expected a fierce chase. There was no way to foresee, however, the unique wireless wrinkle used in the pursuit by 
prosecutors determined to round up as many of the offenders as possible.

After the initial phase of the investigation left many of more than 200 suspects on the loose, the Dutch authorities 
turned to a kind of cellular door-to-door search - mass text messaging in search of criminal information.

The cellular-era tactic has appeared in a growing number of cities since early last year, as the police seek to turn 
cellphones into direct lines to potential witnesses.

"We were really determined to arrest everybody involved," said Jeichien Degraaff, spokeswoman for the Rotterdam public 
prosecutor's office.

[snip]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/30/business/wireless31.php

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


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