PDA

View Full Version : Why celebrities should never be cops.




Anti Federalist
09-29-2011, 12:03 PM
Steven Seagal and Shaquille O'Neal come to mind.

Another important thing to take away from this is that police are, at least according to this article, routinely violating the 4th Amendment, by using this software to search people's computers for "illegal" images AND THEN GETTING A WARRANT after the fact.




Tempe Police Allowed Shaquille O’Neal to Play Cop by Giving Him Secret Info on Software Used to Detect Kiddy Porn

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2011-09-22/news/tempe-police-allowed-shaquille-o-neal-to-play-cop-in-an-attempt-to-get-dirt-on-an-enemy/

Detective Mattlin's e-mail clearly was in response to an earlier communication (that never has seen the light of day) in which O'Neal apparently asked his former mentor how best to uncover "potential illegal images" (Mattlin's words) in an unspecified police investigation into child pornography in another jurisdiction.

Mattlin refers in this missive to "your agency" and explains the workings of sophisticated police-computer software designed to track down those who share kiddy porn over the Internet or who try to lure youngsters for sex by pretending in chat rooms to be much younger than they are.

The Tempe detective tells O'Neal to first identify two or three "illegal" images on a suspect's computer through the use of those new high-tech forensic tools.

Mattlin writes, "Then you've got the PC [probable cause] to get a subpoena from the Internet service provider for the subscriber information for whoever had that IP address when GnuWatch [the police software] connected to them."

The Tempe detective continues, "Once you get your subpoena back with the subscriber info, you can write up a warrant and hit the residence. Hope this helps. Get a hold of me if you have any questions."

Mattlin signs off cheerfully: "Good luck and happy hunting!"

Tempe police Sergeant Steve Carbajal says Mattlin believed O'Neal still was working as a fellow detective, possibly for the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Sheriff's Office, where the superstar had expressed an interest in volunteering after the trade to Cleveland.

"One police detective basically sharing his knowledge with another," says Carbajal, an agency spokesman. "From what I understand, Mr. O'Neal never specifically told Detective Mattlin what agency he may have been with or what he may have been working on."

But Shaquille O'Neal was not working in an official capacity on December 15, 2009, for any police agency.

"Mr. O'Neal never has been a peace officer in the state of Ohio," says Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office.