Posted on 05/27/2002 4:40:43 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
Legislation allowing Connecticut police to more quickly investigate Internet sex crimes like the one that apparently led to the death of 13-year-old Christina Long failed this year because state lawmakers worried about violating civil liberties.
So while officials praised the quickness of the FBI in tracking down Saul dos Reis, 25, of Greenwich, who investigators say confessed to the killing, state experts and local police say Connecticut’s reliance on federal agencies is unwise given the rapid spread of Internet sex crime.
“Everybody has their own job to do,” said Danbury Detective Capt. Mitchell Weston, “and we were lucky in this case that the FBI wasn’t in the middle of something.”
The strain on federal authorities’ time is compounded by post-Sept. 11 concerns such as enforcing homeland security, Weston said, which means local police might not be so lucky next time.
It seems unlikely that authorities could have prevented the killing. FBI spokeswoman Lisa Bull said the FBI learned of previous contact between the girl and older man only during the investigation.
However, in cases where police do know of illegal Internet contact between adults and children, the laws proposed in the General Assembly would have helped track down the perpetrators.
The state police bureau that deals with Internet crime wrote two bills empowering state authorities to more easily obtain Internet users’ identities and communications. The bills, which covered everything from using Internet messages to lure someone for an encounter to displaying child pornography, failed to survive the legislative committee process.
“It would really streamline the process,” said Monique Ferrarro, a lawyer with the state Computer Crime and Electronic Evidence Unit. “We can’t find out who the offender was as quickly as the FBI can. A lot of times we will bring in the FBI to ask them to help us with something because we need their ability to get it.”
For Connecticut authorities, the current process borders on the absurd. Ferrarro said local or state police fill out a five-page search warrant request plus an affidavit, which must be signed by two people. If, for example, a suspect used Internet provider America Online, Connecticut authorities would then send the search warrant application to the Louden County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, which has jurisdiction over America Online. That sheriff’s department must do the search and send the information back to local police.
The search is sometimes harder when a predator uses a smaller Internet provider. Some out-of-state police departments are uncooperative or unwilling to undertake research for a Connecticut police force, Ferrarro said.
“It’s a long, involved process,” she said. “I’ve seen people spend 40 hours on one investigation and not get the identity of the suspect. By the time you find out who it is, they are either long gone or they are in a different jurisdiction.”
Ferrarro said the legislation her department pushed would allow Connecticut police to fill out a simpler form and directly demand that an Internet service provide an online user’s identity and Internet habits.
Rep. Steven Mikutel, D-Griswold, a co-sponsor of one of the bills, said the Legislature doesn’t have the political will to make it law. “There is a group out there that doesn’t want to put any restrictions on the Internet,” he said. “They don’t want to invade anyone’s privacy. But public safety factors have to come into consideration here.”
Responding to and investigating crimes is easier than preventing them.
Authorities are not calling for monitoring of everyone’s Internet communications, for instance, to identify potential crimes.
“You’re getting into civil liberties now,” Danbury Police Chief Robert Paquette told reporters at a press conference last week. “I don’t think either the federal government or the state can go that far.”
Reply to Monique states: "This is a scam. Probably made up by Gestapo or her Fßhrer Reno. ALERT ALERT ALERT!!!!!.........DO NOT REPLY TO GESTAPO SCAMS!!!!! Her Fßhrer will put you on a list!..........AKsmith "
Awww, poor police have to fill out a form for a constitutionally mandated search warrant. I feel sooooo sorry for them.
Get your jurisdictional problems sorted out, but don't mess with our rights.
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