Prisons Use AI to Monitor and Analyze Calls

The Frey Law Firm, LLC — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 21:53:50 GMT

“This call originates from an inmate correctional facility and is subject to monitoring and recording.” The Florida Department of Corrections currently has approximately 80,000 inmates incarcerated. The Florida Administrative Code mandates that all inmate calls, except those placed to attorneys under proper procedures, and to foreign consulates, shall be subject to monitoring and recording.

Notice to all Participants to the Communication

All monitored calls shall contain a prompt which clearly identifies the call as coming from a Florida Department of Corrections institution and advise that the call is subject to being monitored and recorded by the Department of Corrections. Likewise, signs are required to be posted on or near each phone which state that calls are subject to being monitored or recorded.

Additionally, it is standard practice for defense counsel to advise incarcerated clients, and their families, that communications are recorded and monitored. I advise clients to imagine law enforcement, the prosecutor, judge, and jury are all listening in on their jail calls. Despite warnings, that imagined scenario still manages to manifest itself in certain cases. When jail recordings are introduced as evidence, they typically include discussion of criminal activity, even candid confessions.

Artificial Intelligence

As reported in several media outlets, earlier this year the Florida Department of Corrections contracted with LeoTech, a company that produced a patented artificial intelligence software platform named Verus. According to the LeoTech website, Verus provides continuous real-time monitoring of communications and enables users to search “through millions of transcripts at sub-second speeds.” The A.I. software provides for searches by keyword, customizable alerts, the ability to investigate and uncover links and connections amongst the data collected, and even the ability to identify slang and coded lexical categories, terms, and synonyms.

Needle in a Haystack

Although it has been standard practice to record jail calls, the ability to effectively examine the content has been limited by the labor and costs required. Widespread examination would be equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack. Effective mass-investigation of the communications of 80,000 inmates would not economical or feasible without A.I. It has been reported that the contract with LeoTech enables prisons to record and scan up to 50 million minutes of conversations. What used to be impractical, if not impossible, is now at the fingertips of prison officials.

Implications

The use of A.I. will assist prison officials and law enforcement by enhancing the efficiency of call monitoring. However, it raises concerns from privacy advocates, particularly regarding the potential for abuse or misuse of the technology, as well as the potential issues pertaining to data access and storage duration. For the defense practitioner, it is now more important than ever to advise clients, and their families, that calls while incarcerated are not simply subject to recording and monitoring, but also to real-time analysis and investigation conducted by artificial intelligence software.

Author: Ron Frey – The Frey Law Firm, LLC

“Are my Communications Wiretapped?”

The Frey Law Firm, LLC Team — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 14:46:20 GMT

As a Criminal Defense Lawyer, I am often asked “Are my communications wiretapped?” and how prevalent the use of wiretaps or electronic monitoring of communications is by the government. There is a general concern in our society that many communications may be monitored by the government. This concern is not limited to those engaging in criminal activity.

Many are surprised to learn that the court authorized use of wiretaps or electronic monitoring by law enforcement is not as statistically widespread as one may suspect. On June 30, 2020, the United States Courts published its 2019 Wiretap Report. The report provides information as to wire, oral, or electronic intercepts that concluded between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. (These statistics do not include interceptions subject to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978).

Question: How many wiretaps were authorized by federal judges in 2019?

Answer: 1,417. (a 3% decline form 2018).

Question: How many wiretaps were authorized by state judges in 2019?

Answer: 1,808. (a 22% increase from 2018).

In sum, 3,225 wiretaps were authorized in 2019.

94% of the applications for the interception of communications involved portable devices, such as cellular telephones. Narcotics investigations and Drug offenses comprised 76% of all wiretap applications in 2019.

Although Federal and state laws serve to limit surveillance to a period of 30 days, that period can be extended if a judge determines an extension is warranted. The longest state-authorized wiretap came out of New York where the original order was extended 27 times in order to complete a wiretap investigation into corruption that spanned 756 days.

What is the average cost of a wiretap? The average cost of a wiretap in 2019 was $75,160.

It is important to remember that these statistics do not include any foreign intelligence intercepts and do not include circumstances involving a consenting party to the communication.

In 2019, 10,584 people were arrested as a result of wiretap investigations.

The next time a person wonders whether communications are wiretapped, it might be useful to gain statistical perspective from the available reports. The United States Courts full 2019 Wiretap Report: Orders and Convictions Increase is available by clicking this link:

2019 Wiretap Report: Orders and Convictions Increase

If you have a question for a Tampa Criminal Defense Lawyer, please call Attorney Ron Frey, The Frey Law Firm, LLC for a free initial consultation.

electronic monitoring - The Frey Law Firm, LLC

Prisons Use AI to Monitor and Analyze Calls

“Are my Communications Wiretapped?”