Adopted at the 120th Annual Conference

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

October 23, 2013

Resolution to seek Legislative Guidance for Access to Electronic Communications, Geolocation, and License Plate Reader Evidence

Submitted by: Police Investigative Operations Committee

PIO.022.t13

WHEREAS,in the digital age a growing percentage of available evidence in any criminal case exists in the digital crime scene, and law enforcement's ability to access electronic evidence quickly and reliably under the law is fundamental to our ability to protect the public and ensure justice for victims of crime; and

WHEREAS, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) governs law enforcement's access to electronic communications in the course of investigations; and

WHEREAS, several bills are pending in the United States Congress that would update the ECPA to require law enforcement to obtain a warrant for any communications content; and

WHEREAS, there is no requirement in current law for electronic communications service and remote computing service providers to respond in a timely fashion to lawful process requests by governmental entities; and

WHEREAS, historical geolocation evidence is crucial in locating wanted and missing persons, generating leads in criminal investigations, and ruling out innocent people; and

WHEREAS, requiring probable cause to get basic, limited information about a person's historical location would make it significantly more difficult to solve crimes and seek justice for victims; and

WHEREAS, license plate reader (LPR) technology and data – including privately collected data that is months and years old – are routinely helping law enforcement solve crimes and recover missing people; and

WHEREAS, several states and municipalities have passed laws and policies that limit law enforcement use of LPR technology and data and may have unintended consequences on the ability of investigators to discover important evidence and save lives; and

WHEREAS, the IACP passed a resolution in 2007 supporting the use of LPR technology, and has published comprehensive guidance for agencies considering the development of LPR policies; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, thatany change in laws governing access to electronic and geolocation evidence should be accompanied by provisions that ensure accountability and prompt response by service providers to legitimate law enforcement requests for evidence; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that state and federal policy makers should ensure law enforcement's ability to obtain non-GPS geolocation evidence with a showing of less than probable cause; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) supports the adoption of policies that encourage responsible use of LPR technology and data by law enforcement agencies; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that state and federal policy makers should take steps to strengthen privacy protections while ensuring the ability of law enforcement to collect LPR data and access historical and privately collected LPR data to support investigations.

Background Information: The Police Investigative Operations Committee believes it is vitally important that the IACP be heard on issues surrounding Law Enforcement and Digital Evidence. Guiding legislation is essential to ensure law enforcement's ability to have access and utilize digital evidence.

The members of the PIO Committee, who have been working on this issue, with the support of their tech people, had originally discussed submitting numerous resolutions but instead we tried to cover the basics with one.