Editorial

We didn’t major in criminal justice, but we’re fairly certain that law enforcement is charged with upholding the law and bringing to justice those who violate it.

So why is the Delaware State Police employing a crime-fighting method that may 1) violate the law and 2) make life easier for criminals?

As detailed in Karl Baker’s piece in the Sunday News Journal, state police, in consultation with the FBI, are using cell-site simulators, also known as Stingrays, to collect cellphone data from suspects. The machines mimic cell towers, which allows police to collect data from nearby phones.

But the FBI and the simulators’ manufacturer are so paranoid, they’d rather see prosecutors bring lesser charges or drop cases altogether than be compelled by the court to reveal that the technology is being used or how it works.

In other words, this high-priced, top-secret tool is like a fishing net that pulls in millions of us innocent minnows but allows the dangerous sharks to swim on through.

We’re not naïve enough to believe there is no risk in such “innocent data” being collected without our knowledge or consent.

At the same time, we also have trouble fathoming that this technology is truly the state secret its manufacturer and the FBI are painting it to be.

For that to be true, we’d have to believe that a brief case-sized tool being use by police departments around the country is not vulnerable to espionage, whether it be military or corporate. Are these cases being handcuffed to officers 24 hours a day?

Our law enforcement officers deserve the very best tools for fighting crime, bringing law breakers to justice and keep us safe from threats, domestic or international.

And while we fully understand that there is no tool that automatically filters information based on innocence or guilt, the Fourth Amendment cannot be ignored.

Why then are we equipping officers with a tool and process that appears to do that very thing?

Is the return worth it? Is a secret box worth it?

Not in our America.