Networkworld.com is reporting a 14% drop in state and federal wiretap requests compared to a year ago.
According to a report issued by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts a total of 2,732 wiretap applications were authorized in 2011 by federal and state courts, with 792 applications by federal authorities and 1,940 applications by 25 states that provide reports. The reduction in wiretaps resulted primarily from a drop in applications for intercepts in narcotics offenses, the report noted.
At the risk of being paranoid, I can help wonder if that’s because the authorities are relaxing a little, or if it’s because they are now less apt to make a request first.
My inner cynic got to your concluding sentence before my eyes did.
…or they have other ways of finding out?
There is not much point in putting in a request if it is no longer needed.
You’d be surprised. The majority of the LEOs I know/come in contact with – are borderline OCD about making sure everything is done 100% correctly and legally. Even more than “getting the bad guy”, they want to make sure that when they do – it sticks. The stereotype of of law enforcement cutting corners is pretty overblown in my opinion. Not that it doesn’t happen, but it’s not as common as it might seem.