The incidence of electronic surveillance and cell phone searches by the law enforcement agencies have increased in recent times. Cell phone searches can offer police officers, valuable information pertaining to public safety, accomplice in crime, evidences and also information required to locate a person. However, not all cell phone searches are in compliance with law. Cell phone searches can be done without a legal warrant when a lawful arrest of the person is made. Cell searches can be done to a person who is not arrested, but such searches are to be ‘truly incidental’ and not done with the objective of producing evidence for an arrest. Likewise, the law also restricts the search to relevant areas where evidence is likely to be found. The police officer is required to maintain a record about the search, in terms of the duration, application opened and the notes taken during the search. A warrantless cell phone search that is conducted in a fair way by the police, is not a violation of law. When exigent circumstances justify a cell phone search, a lack of warrants can be excused. (Giroday et al.)
Some of the everyday crimes that are conducted using cell phone devices involves identity theft, pornography, illegal electronic surveillance, theft of intellectual property, stalking fraud, etc. Evidence provided by cell phones has become a common part of crime investigation. Apart from tracking location details, citizens can also use cell phones to report crime and gather evidence of a crime. Pictures and videos taken by the public can be a valuable piece of evidence. An anonymous text messages have been very useful in tracking burglaries and kidnappings. ("Fighting Crime with Mobile Technology")
Work cited
"Fighting Crime with Mobile Technology". Source.southuniversity.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 July 2016.
Giroday, Gabrielle et al. "Supreme Court Allows Warrantless Cell Phone Searches".Canadianlawyermag.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 July 2016.
