Quotes from the indictment show gang members using slang like “skat” and “toy” on the phone in a bid to hide the fact they’re talking about guns.How long did they have to listen to figure that out? On the other hand, if that's so stupid, why haven't the authorities crushed these gangs by now?
July 8, 2013
Prisoners on cellphones blab incriminating statements — even though they know they're being monitored and recorded.
"It’s a bizarre thing.... Most of the time, they’re using code words they don’t think the listener will understand.... But when you listen long enough, you get to know their patterns and understand the code.”
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2 comments:
A reader emails:
I note that the title of your blog post mentions cell phones, but the linked article seems to indicate that the monitored phones are land lines, hard-wired with a posted notice indicating that all conversations were being monitored or recorded.
I don't think any prisons allow cell phone use.
from marie:
On the other hand, if that's so stupid, why haven't the authorities crushed these gangs by now?
Something else to wonder about: the facile assumption that law enforcement officers are smarter than criminals. You might think that if criminals were smart, they wouldn't get caught and yet criminals DO get away with crime...just as LEOs screw up investigations or misunderstand the proper application of law. The reason conviction and incarceration rates are so high has less to do with smart cops than with mandatory minimum sentences and sentencing guidelines that give too much power to the prosecutors.
I would bet that if cops paid as much attention to cops as they do to easy-pickin's among the criminal class, cops would look just as stupid as the criminals. The trick is that law enforcement doesn't watch its own.
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