Brown Signs Bill To Extend Wiretaps For Law Enforcement

Posted by: Perry Smith in Sheriff News September 29, 2014 - 11:09 am 0 357 Views

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a local legislator’s bill extending the sunset date of California’s wiretap law. The bill was approved unanimously by the Legislature last month.

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State Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, helped extend California’s 25-year-old wiretap law allowing officials to use telephone and electronic surveillance to investigate the most serious felonies.

“This bill ensures that investigators have the tools they need to protect Californians by pursuing the most serious cases while upholding civil liberty and privacy protections,” said Pavley, who represents a portion of the west side of the Santa Clarita Valley.

From 2011-13, wiretap investigations led to the seizure of over $90 million in narcotics and narcotic proceeds in Los Angeles County alone.

The law has been successfully used to investigate and prosecute murder, organized crime and major drug-trafficking offenses, according to officials.

Senate Bill 35 extends the sunset date of the law from 2015 to 2020.

“With the evolution of the digital age, lawbreakers have become more clever and better organized, especially when it comes to drug and arms trafficking,” Assemblymember Chris Holden, who co-authored the bill, said. “That’s why it’s so important that law enforcement officials have an equally sophisticated response. By extending the sunset date, we’ll give our law enforcement teams additional tools to keep our communities safe.”

California’s wiretap law can be used only to investigate the most serious crimes.

Wiretap requests must be approved by a court, and law enforcement must establish probable cause, as well as proof that all other techniques have been exhausted or are too dangerous to be undertaken.

Any wiretapping that violates civil liberty and privacy protections is a felony.

SB 35 is sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and supported by numerous law enforcement agencies and organizations.

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