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Police use Cellphone Tracking to find Transplant Patient

cellular-news.com — Police asked Sprint Nextel to locate the mother of a boy waiting for a heart transplant when they couldn't contact him directly. He was found at a jazz concert, and got a standing ovation from the crowd as he left for hospital.

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  • ChuckNorrisMan, on 10/12/2007, -119/+6What a waste of tax dollars. Don't the police have better things to do?
    • jus1haz2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+60Wow dude you are an ass.
    • jon02129, on 10/12/2007, -40/+3Wow, did anyone else get tripped up over the summary? Thinking the mother was a dude but 'he' was really the kid?

      I need a cigarette.
    • Al3x, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17@jon02129
      nope, I can read just fine...

      And this is a real feel good story...he could have been passed up, how bad would that feel...
    • strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13chuckie is a troll ignore him
    • insomniac8400, on 10/12/2007, -25/+3This is *****. If they don't need a warrant, they can do this for any reason. Not just when someone's life is in danger. They should be fired for abuse of power.
    • strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19"If they don't need a warrant, they can do this for any reason"

      Uhh... no. It's clearly stated in the article. They can do this in this type of situation and this type of situation only. Otherwise they need a warrant. If they want to find you because they think you committed a crime they still need to talk to a judge.
    • Firehed, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12True, but it still could start a dangerous precendent. You know, since we're all terrorists now, we're all in life-threatening situations, so police can always use that otherwise-positive loophole for unquestioned warrantless location tracking.

      Extreme, sure, but don't pretend that it's impossible. For every legitimate use of an exception, there are a dozen more illegitimate uses. We need a way to boost the priority of obtaining a warrant, not exceptions that let the warrant process be bypassed entirely.
    • gorndog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I am hoping that state police Cpl. James Green was misquoted in the article. The police can ask Sprint for anything they care to, but they only have the authority to order Sprint to track the phone when they have a warrant to do so. I would be suprised if Sprint would "track someone wanted in a homicide" without there being a warrant.
    • meddle447, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9This would directly fall into the "To Serve and protect" category. I cannot think of a better use for cop time and technology. I read enough about bad cops, and bad people it's nice to hear about something working out well.
    • khyberkitsune, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2*Chuck Norris apears from nowhere, roundhouse kicks chucknorrisman in the head, then scratches him to death with his beard*

      There's only ONE Chuck Norris, BITCH!
    • davesbrain, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0@strictnein

      Not if it's Department of Homeland Security or the police are acting on a "terrorist" assumption.
  • SmackMyMac, on 10/12/2007, -2/+39Props for a Cell phone company doing something GOOD for the common wealth.
    • cmcm, on 10/12/2007, -19/+2something good? try something that threatens allmost everyones security?
  • linkedsolutions, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Cell phone company working FOR the people? That's refreshing.
  • saintdesy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+10That's a nice story, the scary part is that they can track you cell phone even if it is powered down, apparently. I think I might start taking the battery out when I'm not using mine from now on.
    • LaueOfficer, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8It's ok, the tinfoil hat deflects the waves and prevents you from being tracked. I would know, Jeyegus told me after my bi-monthly probing session.
    • merrychristmass, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16"they can track you cell phone even if it is powered down" ? Really? What fantasy world you live in? No power=no signal!
    • strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Where does it say it was powered down? It doesn't. Put your tinfoil hat back on and go back into your closet. You'll be safe there.
    • saintdesy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Naw, I'll just put brass mesh in my walls and the lining of all my clothes, that'll fix her.
    • bobillybob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5merrychristmass: the FBI has in the past used cell phones to eavesdrop on people. and apparently this works even if the phone is switched off, as long as the battery is still connected: http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html
    • b_timmins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But in that case they had modified the phone (remotely probably)
      >mobile providers can "remotely install a piece of software on to any handset, without the owner's knowledge, which will activate the microphone even when its owner is not making a call."
      >Nextel and Samsung handsets and the Motorola Razr are especially vulnerable to software downloads that activate their microphones,
    • benitojuarez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That only works with bluetooth phones, and they have to be powered on and unsecured. You can use bluetooth to activate the mic and place a phonecall without the phones owner knowing like the fbi did in the article bobillybob linked. I seen it on beyond tomorrow on the science channel. They had a guy do it to someone in a building a block away while standing on a rooftop.
    • catbeller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Way to miss his point by deflecting to his misstatement; the point is that they can track you even when you think you shut the tracker down. I've been making the point for two years now that that "shutoff GPS" option on most menus (don't know the actual name, as I won't own a GPS phone) is a crock. It can be re-enabled by the carrier at their option, and you won't know it. I don't know if it is pertinent to *this* particular story, but it is a certainty that your phone is a tracking device. Expect a lot of "we found Timmy in time for an organ transplant" stories extolling the virtues of tracking, until people feel that being tracked by anonymous strangers is a Good Thing. Don't expect to hear many stories about, oh, Scientology members working support at AT&T following critics around via their phones for purposes of extreme harrassment, or the Ebeneezer Baptist Church witch tracker squad following 'Satanists' or the movements of local Democrats using third party GPS tracking services. Certainly don't expect to see stories of how Vote Squad operatives of a certain party will use it to harrass election campaign workers of another party.
  • nafai, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4I heard this from a good friend earlier tonight... *we* thought it was inspirational ;-)
  • hellotyler, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Bravo. Police actually doing something to help the community for once.
  • merrychristmass, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2And what where the doing when that Asian guy froze to dead?
    • Tahiri, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Searching for him using his cell phone, coincidentally.
  • golyadkinsr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Actually, most phones don't power down at all. A lot of information is stored in volatile memory, so powering down would be a disaster. Phones just go into power saving mode, where they don't constantly try to maintain a connection with the tower. The cell company can send a packet that will instruct the phone to reestablish contact. If the battery actually dies (which is rare, as most phones will automatically go into power saving mode,) is removed, or if only one tower can get signal from the phone, it isn't possible to get a location. So if you are on a mountain, you probably won't get rescued by your cell provider.
    • merrychristmass, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4"the cell company can send a packet that will instruct the phone to reestablish contact" Are you writing new GSM (and others) standard? Disaster my ass. Powered down is powered down! ever heard of nonvolatile memory? Guess not....
    • wshs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@merrychristmass
      You must be new to the world of technology. For years, phones have had the ability to be remotely 'powered.' I know this for a fact as my phone provider at the time did it (or magic pixies, take your pick) so I could be notified of my kidney/pancreas transplant, and this was in 2000. Phones don't completely turn off. Much like wake-on-lan and a BIOS clock, phones too have power going through the system, even if minute, to allow very important tasks to take place.
  • relic2279, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18I'm a technician for Verizon Wireless.. While it's true, that with certain phones on some networks, a phone can be sent information while off; some people take this to the extreme. I see alot of tinfoil hat customers every week.

    "Can you open my phone up to see if my ex-wife planted a bug in there while I was brushing my teeth this morning?"

    No sir. All of your base belong to me.
  • JusticeAK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7that settles it, I'm getting my RFID, gps enabled chip implanted tomorrow, I mean what if the Fedex guy has a package for me and I'm not at the house, If they don't find me the package could get sent back. This is serious people.
  • EradicateIV, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Hooray for good things happening in Pittsburgh!

    Being voted one of the most livable cities and then being voted one of the most polluted.

    I think it's great the police intervened rather than stopping a bunch of kids riding skateboards at some random neighborhood.
    • sork, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1It didn't really happen in Pittsburgh. It happened @ Slippery Rock University, an hour north of Pittsburgh. The article doesn't really mention that, but here is the clip from the university website: http://www.sru.edu/pages/14151.asp
  • V1ncent, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Truly wonderful. As to the "they can track me anytime this is bad" folks, I had a friend who's dad went brain dead and died because he got into an accident and they weren't allowed to find out where he was by locating his cell phone because of you privacy concerned morons.
    • catbeller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2It's really too bad, but I'm not going to live in a prison because someone, somewhere might die. People die. And they will keep dying. I'd rather be dead and free than alive and tracked as possible terrorist/treason suspect 312-555-1212, currently at suspicious peace rally code 07-08-2008 Chicago Grant Park, please advise HS-Chicago to pickup for questioning and detainment. And that sort of thing is precisely what they will do with the tech. And I'm more afraid of what corporate entities such as cults will do with their clandestine access to the information. If you don't mind people knowing where you are at all times, then try posting that information every few minutes on the Internet. If you don't trust the people reading your website, why the hell do you trust anonymous strangers tracking you without your consent?
  • databoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yanks suffer from too much paranoia. Paranoia will lead to a heart attack; you will end up joining the ancestors sooner than you think. In a land where firearms are readily available, you are better off worrying about a psychopath shooting you with bullet. There is one thing about death, it must be good on the other side, as no one has returned and talked about the experience. You never know when your life may need rescuing. While you are alive be thankful that you do not require emergency treatment. The Police have a duty of care to the public they serve. That means emergency rescues. You should be thankful, that in an emergency, the technology exists that enables the Police to track a person, and save that person's life.
    • catbeller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You've never been beaten by a cop because he wanted to have some fun beating up someone, have you? Must be nice in your world.
  • diggsay, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3They've done this for a good cause. To save a life. Let's hope they don't use it for spying
    • ronaldinho, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Agree, although this quote from the policeman can lead to both good and bad......

      "The only time you can use it is life or death, or to track someone wanted in a homicide"

      I mean, define life and death please. Anytime it could simply be crying wolf. I mean, I know police rather be safe and cry wolf just in case rather than let something really terrible occur, but I can't see the police (and Bush) not abusing it for something ridiculous. This time it came out great, but I'm worried about setting a precedent. Although I guess like all things, there is both good and bad, and you can't have one without the other.
    • catbeller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1How would you ever know?
  • neondiet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2
    I just read this out aloud to my GF and she loved it. We don't get enough good news stories like this. Dugg!

  • arrow85, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0For a change I have to say something was not only handled well but extraordinary. I mean the kid got a heart the technology made it possible to find him and get him and the heart togeather exactly what techonlogy of this sort was designed for. Good Digg
  • cadich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Nothing better than having your name called in front of 500 people when your heart is a bit dodgy...
  • reyalp, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Just an FYI. NoScript users will have to enable javascript for mochila.com to view this article.

    I don't know why websites do this. It's one of my pet peeves.
  • aliensporebomb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1ALL RIGHT MILLSVILLE! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK???
    Hey, wait a second. The cops are here.
    One second. Stay tuned on that rocking....
    Oh? Okay.
    Hey, Officer Clancy wants to know if a woman named Sue and her little boy are here.

    How weird but cool.
    My guess is: the music (jazz) was so loud she could not hear her phone even if it was ringing.
  • kigol, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1i can see Children's Hospital out my office window. Pretty cool to read about something that happened across the street.
    • strictnein, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1If you looked out the window you could actually see what was happening across the street.
  • cabe24i, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Honestly, I find this a much better use of tax dollars than the police shaking down some weed smoker for carrying a roach. While it is kind of scary, I'd imagine (or hope) the police had to sign some sort of agreement that states this can only be used for this sort of purpose and the police forfeit any and all evidence should they also find something illegal with the person in question, maybe an automatic mis-trial. Yes, it'd be bad (really bad) for the one time its abused and lets a killer free but maybe, just maybe, it'd keep the cops thinking twice about doing something like this for illicit purposes without going through the courts first. (Police often have an interest in someone they apprehend going to jail)

    At least, that's my thought on the whole thing. Kudos to the department though, they went out of their way to make sure a sick citizen got a very needed operation. I believe this falls under the 'To Serve' part, something a good amount (not all) of cops either don't understand or don't practice.
  • drexl, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1That is damn fine story.

    @chucknorrisman----***** off!
  •  

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