From: Dave Banisar <Banisar@epic.org> Newsgroups: alt.privacy,alt.privacy.clipper,talk.politics.crypto Subject: EPIC: 1993 US Electronic Surveillance Stats Date: 25 May 1994 11:12:20 GMT Organization: Electronic Privacy Information Center Lines: 101 Distribution: world Message-ID: <2rvbqk$60e@news1.digex.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: cpsr.digex.net X-UserAgent: Version 1.1.3 X-XXMessage-ID: <AA0953E05402D314@cpsr.digex.net> X-XXDate: Wed, 25 May 94 23:13:36 GMT
From the EPIC Alert 1.01
----------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Federal Electronic Surveillance Increased in 1993 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fueled by an increased use of electronic surveillance by federal officials in drug cases, the number of wiretaps and microphones installed by federal, state and local law enforcement officials increased by six percent in 1993 over the previous year. There were also substantial increases in the total number of days in operation, extensions granted and in the cost of each order. However, the efficiency of wiretaps continues to decline as the percentage of relevant communications intercepted has dipped below 20 percent for federal investigations Federal and state courts approved a total of 979 requests, the highest number since electronic surveillance was legalized in 1968. Federal orders increased by 33 percent from 1992, while state investigations decreased by nine percent. No surveillance requests were rejected or amended. In 25 years, only 27 requests have ever been rejected, two most recently in 1988. Narcotics Main Offense Cited The vast majority of cases investigated involved narcotics. Seventy-four percent of the federal investigations and 69 percent of all investigations were for narcotics related offenses. These figures continue long-standing trends. Use of electronic surveillance in narcotics cases has increased 240 percent since 1980 and over 500 percent since the legalization of electronic surveillance in 1968. Use of the technique in investigations of other offenses has decreased or remained at similar levels. Federal Use Increases Federal investigations accounted for nearly half of all requests for electronic surveillance in 1993. Federal judges approved 450 requests, a 30 percent increase in requests over 1992. The 450 requests approved by federal judges represent a 30 percent increase over the previous year. Federal use of electronic surveillance has increased nearly 450% since 1980. Fifty-one federal judicial districts utilized electronic surveillance in 1993. The Southern District of New York, which includes New York City, and the Eastern District of Michigan, which includes Detroit were the areas with the highest number of orders. State Use of Electronic Surveillance Declines State use of electronic surveillance declined by nine percent from 1992. State use was at its peak in 1973, when 734 orders were approved. Since the mid-1970s, the average number of state orders has fluctuated between 450 and 550 per year. In 1993, only 23 states used electronic surveillance. New York had the highest number of orders - 204. New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania accounted for 73 percent of the state surveillance orders. Efficiency Declines As the use of electronic surveillance has increased, its efficiency as a law enforcement tool has substantially declined. The majority of conversations overhead are determined by prosecutors to be irrelevant to any investigation. In 1993, prosecutors determined that only 20 percent of all conversations were relevant. For federal investigations, only 17 percent were relevant. These percentages have decreased significantly since the 1970s when prosecutors reported that, on average, over half of all conversations were relevant to an investigation. ======================================================================= To subscribe to the EPIC Alert, send the message: "subscribe cpsr-announce <your name>" (without quotes or brackets) to listserv@cpsr.org. You may also receive the Alert by reading the USENET newsgroup comp.org.cpsr.announce ======================================================================= The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest research center in Washington, DC. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging privacy issues relating to the National Information Infrastructure, such as the Clipper Chip, the Digital Telephony proposal, medical record privacy, and the sale of consumer data. EPIC is sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. EPIC publishes the EPIC Alert and EPIC Reports, pursues Freedom of Information Act litigation, and conducts policy research on emerging privacy issues. For more information email info@epic.org, or write EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20003. +1 202 544 9240 (tel), +1 202 547 5482 (fax). The Fund for Constitution Government is a non-profit organization established in 1974 to protect civil liberties and constitutional rights. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is a national membership organization. For information contact: cpsr@cpsr.org