4 ms·

> We're all scrambling to find the 15 grand to get a license Well, there's that part. Apparently lots of my tax dollars are going towards purchasing a tempora

> We're all scrambling to find the 15 grand to get a license Well, there's that part. Apparently lots of my tax dollars are going towards purchasing a temporary license for a temporary solution to a permanent problem that isn't really a problem at all? Though I must admit, one day those things are going to look great in some museum. They tell a really interesting story. Hopefully the price tag is included on the exhibit description.

velobro 8y ago
Let's not forget that it isn't just one policy agency wanting to buy these. It's every single department, in every single city, in every single state. That's thousands, if not tens of thousands, of departments buying these when they'll all be useless as soon as Apple patches the exploit. Seems like a whole lot of wasted money. But who knows, they might just catch enough "big bad Marijuana dealers" to offset the cost. That's what the LEO really means by cold cases. Nothing important. Just more drug busts.
- dvt 8y ago
  > Nothing important. Just more drug busts. People dying because of drug overdoses seems like a pretty big deal to me, but then again (thank God) I've never had a family member or close friend succumb to a drug addiction.
  - scarecrowbob 8y ago
    I don't think it's very charitable of you to assume that just because people don't believe that police handling of drug crimes is effective they don't also think the opiate crisis in the US is a big deal (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to). If you don't believe that a solution works, then further effort on a non-functioning solution isn't a big deal, even if you feel the problem is a problem.
  - stordoff 8y ago
    Many drug overdoses come as a result of it being illegal. You can't be sure of the potency, and there is the incentive to use different active ingredients (higher potency, thus being easier to smuggle, but also increasing the risk of overdose).
itsadrop 8y ago
the righteous indignation of the jilted tax payer. Well, lots of other people are paying taxes too...people who have been victimized or have friends and family victimized and maybe they deserve to see some justice served. And of course, many of our cases are from drug overdose deaths were opening the deceased persons phone may allow us to find out who delivered the lethal dose. The parents of these poor souls are tax payers also.
- djcapelis 8y ago
  I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve solved many of your cold cases: the person who delivered the lethal dose was the person who opted to take it. Since this is web based, that’ll be $15k.
- 616c 8y ago
  I would usually write you off as someone who self identifies as law enforcement with a throwaway account (ironic, since no upstanding citizens have anything to hide!), but a real question: What departmental protections will exist for someone like yourself for using this without a properly authorized court order? Self restraint? Professional integrity? If you cannot tell from the tone of people here, if I may be so bold and pretend to express a sentiment I find on behalf of others: I find the zeal for your industry to not properly control tools within legally mandated limits disgusting, specifically because I oft hear pleas for better and newer tools and never we will strive to double down on our civic duty and better exercise our control and use of dangerous tools. To be fair, you learn from the best: anecdata from friends tells me the defense intel industry post Snowden scandals, with asshats misusing feverently denied tools for illegal citizen monitoring but you can blow that off too, was to increase background screening of employees, not fix and control monitoring system access. That would be ludicrous. So I am not surprised if they can't get it, neither can you.
- iamdave 8y ago
  the righteous indignation of the jilted tax payer. I'm sorry, what? Are you somehow asserting that the tax payer should not be righteously indignant about the money they ostensibly worked hard to earn and then turn right around and hand over to the government going to the coffers so they can acquire a technology that will probably (historically) be poorly implemented and maintained by what is probably (and also historically) a severely underpaid tech department, and probably become completely irrelevant once Apple catches wind and changes how their devices are secured? I just don't understand the tone of a statement like "righteous indignation of the jilted" coming from someone who serves the public at the pleasure of someone elected by the public and whose salary is paid. by. the public. Sorry if this sounds a little aggressive, but I'm legitimately more than bothered when I see members of law enforcement carrying an "I know whats best for you, John Q Public" attitude when said member of the public raises an eyebrow of incredulity about actions, especially expensive actions of law enforcement.
paulcole 8y ago
> Apparently lots of my tax dollars are going towards purchasing a temporary license Depending on where you live, maybe 16 cents on the dollar is going to “defense.” And I’d imagine that $15k per license is a tiny fraction of that. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-w...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
onetimemanytime 8y ago
To be fair, a lot of crime evidence is in the phones. Given that we want cops to investigate and jail them, you can't blame them for doing everything possible--within the law. $15k is nothing, labs cost money, detective time cost money and so on.

velobro 8y ago

Let's not forget that it isn't just one policy agency wanting to buy these. It's every single department, in every single city, in every single state. That's thousands, if not tens of thousands, of departments buying these when they'll all be useless as soon as Apple patches the exploit. Seems like a whole lot of wasted money. But who knows, they might just catch enough "big bad Marijuana dealers" to offset the cost. That's what the LEO really means by cold cases. Nothing important. Just more drug busts.

dvt 8y ago
> Nothing important. Just more drug busts. People dying because of drug overdoses seems like a pretty big deal to me, but then again (thank God) I've never had a family member or close friend succumb to a drug addiction.
- scarecrowbob 8y ago
  I don't think it's very charitable of you to assume that just because people don't believe that police handling of drug crimes is effective they don't also think the opiate crisis in the US is a big deal (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to). If you don't believe that a solution works, then further effort on a non-functioning solution isn't a big deal, even if you feel the problem is a problem.
- stordoff 8y ago
  Many drug overdoses come as a result of it being illegal. You can't be sure of the potency, and there is the incentive to use different active ingredients (higher potency, thus being easier to smuggle, but also increasing the risk of overdose).

itsadrop 8y ago

the righteous indignation of the jilted tax payer. Well, lots of other people are paying taxes too...people who have been victimized or have friends and family victimized and maybe they deserve to see some justice served. And of course, many of our cases are from drug overdose deaths were opening the deceased persons phone may allow us to find out who delivered the lethal dose. The parents of these poor souls are tax payers also.

djcapelis 8y ago
I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve solved many of your cold cases: the person who delivered the lethal dose was the person who opted to take it. Since this is web based, that’ll be $15k.
616c 8y ago
I would usually write you off as someone who self identifies as law enforcement with a throwaway account (ironic, since no upstanding citizens have anything to hide!), but a real question: What departmental protections will exist for someone like yourself for using this without a properly authorized court order? Self restraint? Professional integrity? If you cannot tell from the tone of people here, if I may be so bold and pretend to express a sentiment I find on behalf of others: I find the zeal for your industry to not properly control tools within legally mandated limits disgusting, specifically because I oft hear pleas for better and newer tools and never we will strive to double down on our civic duty and better exercise our control and use of dangerous tools. To be fair, you learn from the best: anecdata from friends tells me the defense intel industry post Snowden scandals, with asshats misusing feverently denied tools for illegal citizen monitoring but you can blow that off too, was to increase background screening of employees, not fix and control monitoring system access. That would be ludicrous. So I am not surprised if they can't get it, neither can you.
iamdave 8y ago
the righteous indignation of the jilted tax payer. I'm sorry, what? Are you somehow asserting that the tax payer should not be righteously indignant about the money they ostensibly worked hard to earn and then turn right around and hand over to the government going to the coffers so they can acquire a technology that will probably (historically) be poorly implemented and maintained by what is probably (and also historically) a severely underpaid tech department, and probably become completely irrelevant once Apple catches wind and changes how their devices are secured? I just don't understand the tone of a statement like "righteous indignation of the jilted" coming from someone who serves the public at the pleasure of someone elected by the public and whose salary is paid. by. the public. Sorry if this sounds a little aggressive, but I'm legitimately more than bothered when I see members of law enforcement carrying an "I know whats best for you, John Q Public" attitude when said member of the public raises an eyebrow of incredulity about actions, especially expensive actions of law enforcement.

paulcole 8y ago

> Apparently lots of my tax dollars are going towards purchasing a temporary license Depending on where you live, maybe 16 cents on the dollar is going to “defense.” And I’d imagine that $15k per license is a tiny fraction of that. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-w...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

onetimemanytime 8y ago

To be fair, a lot of crime evidence is in the phones. Given that we want cops to investigate and jail them, you can't blame them for doing everything possible--within the law. $15k is nothing, labs cost money, detective time cost money and so on.