Kelsey Smith Act -- speedy cell phone location info helps LE save lives

When 18-year-old Kelsey Smith was abducted in broad daylight outside a Kansas shopping mall in 2007, the teen's parents spent four harrowing days searching for their daughter, whose body was found after police scoured an area close to a tower where her cell phone last pinged.

But the search for the young woman would have ended much sooner had Verizon Wireless promptly handed over cell phone records to authorities, according to Smith's mother as well as a U.S. congressman – both of whom are calling for legislation mandating all cell phone carriers provide police with a customer's location information in an emergency.

Current federal law allows cell phone companies to release information to police in certain situations, but it does not require them to do so. “Kelsey’s Law” seeks to mandate it on the state and ultimately national level.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...law-mandating-cell-phone-carriers-to-release/

This will be a tough one.

Yes I believe that if someone is endangered, missing or murdered that LE should have easy access to their communication history.

But I also believe that if someone is suspected of a crime, they should have the right to be assured that LE has to go through the proper steps (warrant etc.) to access that info.

The reason being that if they don't go through the proper steps, it won't hold up in court and that evidence will be lost. And I'm uncomfortable with LE being able to go on 'fishing' expeditions without clear cause. Not to mention the fear of some LE using that ability to access info for their own gain..... ex checking on a current or ex wife or business rival.

What it Does

The Kelsey Smith Act provides law enforcement with a way to quickly ascertain the location of a wireless telecommunications device if a person has been determined, by law enforcement, to be at risk of death or serious physical harm due to being kidnapped and/or missing.
As of January 16, 2013 the Kelsey Smith Act has been passed by the following states(in order of passage):Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Tennessee, Hawaii and Missouri.

It has also been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the province of Alberta, Canada.

Click to expand...

See Kelsey's Army to read Kelsey's story and learn more about the Kelsey Smith Act.


Mother of murdered teen pushes for law forcing cell phone carriers to release life-saving information

By Cristina Corbin
Published April 11, 2013
FoxNews.com

Current federal law allows cellphone companies to release information to police in certain situations, but it does not require them to do so. “Kelsey’s Law” seeks to mandate it on the state and ultimately national level.

Click to expand...

"Time is of the essence when a child is missing -- the first 3 hours are critical to recovering a child alive," John Ryan, chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said in an email to FoxNews.com. "Law enforcement must be able to obtain cellphone locations as quickly as possible in these circumstances. We support the efforts to clarify current laws to prevent any delays in disclosing this information in cases of missing children, which includes persons under age 21 under federal law."

Click to expand...

Utah added the law in March, and today, West Virginia. Currently, several other states have proposed legislation, including Illinois and Washington.

W. Va. passes cell phone tracking bill

WVVA
Posted: Apr 12, 2013 11:24 AM CDT Updated: Apr 12, 2013 11:24 AM CDT
The state Senate voted unanimously Friday to pass West Virginia's version of the Kelsey Smith Act. The House passed the bill in March.

Click to expand...

Kelsey Smith Foundation, Inc. on Facebook

by Jess Rollins
USAToday

Updated 8/27/2012 1:21 PM


"It was 2 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday when they asked for the information," she said. "On Wednesday, we found her." Missey Smith said some estimated it took less than 45 minutes to find Kelsey's body after her cellphone location was finally handed over.

Click to expand...

Saralyn Hayes, who oversees emergency communications in some Kansas and Missouri counties, says authorities have been able to act faster in situations in which seconds matter since the law was passed in Kansas.
One young woman was dragged by her hair into a wooded area by an ex-boyfriend, Hayes said. "By the time they located her, it was a pretty scary situation." Without Kelsey's Law, Hayes believes, officers might have been too late.

Click to expand...

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news...-26/kelseys-law-cellphone-location/57335906/1

Thanks for posting Magic"!

“We want to create a national standard to make it very clear and easy for law enforcement and families of victims in the case of an emergency to be able to locate their missing loved one,” Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., told FoxNews.com. “In Kelsey’s case, they had the information but they weren't releasing it because they didn’t have clear defined procedures.”

“The hope is that if done right, it could stop a rape, abduction or a murder in progress,” said Yoder, who plans to introduce the bill in Congress on April 15. The bill was first proposed by Kansas Rep. Lynn Jenkins and former Rep. Todd Tiahrt in previous years, but it did not pass."

"Verizon eventually released the information four days after she disappeared, and her body was found within an hour."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...cell-phone-carriers-to-release/#ixzz2QOkfVy8Y

But this law deals with the VICTIM's cell phone! Does it also address the phone of a suspected perp?

Yes, I can still see potential for abuse: say a woman is trying to escape a violent spouse. Will a call from him reporting her missing give HIM the whereabout of her phone? Or does it only give that info to LE? (Can LE be trusted not to accidentally reveal the info to the wrong party?)

Kelsey Smith Act would save lives, cost taxpayers nothing

In the midst of all the news about gun control and terrorism, I hope the Kelsey Smith Act, introduced this week in both houses of Congress by Kansas lawmakers, gets the attention and support it deserves.

Kelsey was an 18-year-old girl from Overland Park, Kan., who was abducted in broad daylight in the parking lot of a Target store just a couple of miles from my house on June 2, 2007.

Sixteen seconds. That’s how long it took Kelsey’s killer to overtake her when she put a package in her car. He abducted her, raped her and strangled her with her own belt.

It was four days before Kelsey’s body was found in a wooded area in Kansas City, Mo. It took those four days for Verizon Wireless, her cellphone carrier, to hand over information about the location of her cellphone, which she had on her when she was abducted. When they did, her body was found within an hour.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-act-would-save-lives-cost-taxpayers-nothing/

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Lawmakers-Hear-Testimony-on-Kelseys-Law-292250401.html?ref=401

Michigan lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday from a mother who wants police to be able to access a person's cell phone during an emergency...

HB 4006 unanimously passed the committee and now heads to the House floor.

Click to expand...

The Kelsey Smith Act has made progress in the House...which is great!

http://m.cjonline.com/news/2016-04-...&utm_campaign=Evening News template#gsc.tab=0

Seems to me the media has forgotten about Kara Kopetsky. As you may know, both girls went missing about the same time. Sadly, Kelsey's body was found and her killer was arrested. Kara has never been found.

I re-watched the Disappeared episode of Kara Kopetsky last weekend...it's crazy, no progress has made in finding her. The episode mentions both girls.

Let's hope the Kelsey Smith act passing.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk