PAX Centurion - Fall 2016

Page 58 • PAX CENTURION • Fall 2016 617-989-BPPA (2772) Leave your personal life (i.e. your technology) in your locker – Don’t use your personal phone on the job! W e all know the saying “don’t mix business with pleasure,” but a better rule for police officers today might be “don’t mix policing with your private life.”And all officers are mindful of that rule, except when it comes to the use of personal technology on the job.Your smartphone is an incredibly powerful computer that connects you with the world in a way unimaginable only years ago. It’s also a detailed record of your life, and can reveal your relationships, your beliefs, and your deepest secrets. And the defense lawyer for that guy you arrested? He’s licking his chops at the prospect of getting inside your phone. There are not many reported cases discussing the right of defense attorneys to obtain cell phone records of officers. But the standard for discoverable information regarding officers is broad, and should give any officer wishing to keep her private life out of a courtroom pause. In State v. Ortiz , 215 P.3d 811 (NM Ct.App. 2009), the defendant was charged with OUI. His attorney claimed that he was stopped without cause, and sought to suppress evidence from the stop (and hence get the case thrown out). The officer gave arguably conflicting reasons for the stop, and the defense attorney sought all communications between the Legal Notes: Bryan C. Decker, Esq. Sandulli Grace P.C., Counsel to Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association officer and the department. In addition to all radio communication, the attorney sought to get the officer’s personal cell phone records. The department refused to produce them, and the judge threw out the case. On appeal, the dismissal was upheld. The appellate court found that the cell phone records could possibly be helpful to the defense, even where there was no evidence that the officer called dispatch on his personal phone. The Ortiz case highlights just how broadly the discovery standard can be applied in your criminal cases. The bottom line – if you use your personal phone on the job, you are exposing it to potential discovery. And to be clear, it’s not just your call records that can be at issue.Your cell phone is no longer just a phone, it’s a powerful computer running multiple “apps” that you rely on for everything from keeping in touch with family to knowing where to get cheap gas. And every one of those apps is keeping detailed personal information about you. About where you go, about whom you call, what you look up, how long you stay in a location, etc. In many ways, your phone is a digital representation of you – all of you, including the stuff we’d all rather you kept secret. And once you turn it over to the department or defense counsel… Of course, there are limits to discovery in court – the party seeking it has to articulate some justification for why seeing your phone is related to your job and could help his case. However, many new apps that may make your job easier are helping create that relationship. For example, here in Boston the city has for several years used a technology called Shotspotter, which uses multiple listening devices all over the city to purportedly locate the source of a gunshot. It turns out that there is now an app that ties into the Shotspotter network. Many of you, seeking to enhance your ability to serve the citizens of Boston, are downloading the app onto your phone. This could potentially make your phone subject to a discovery order, if you use it in your official capacity. Bottom line, let dispatch do its job and instruct you. Don’t use your own phone for work. In the Sandulli Grace blog, www.sandulligrace.com , we’ve had articles on the perils of using social media and how it can lead to discipline, and how defense attorneys will subpoena your Facebook page. It’s easy for us, your counsel, to tell you to delete your Facebook page and never bring your cell phone in your cruiser. We know that while that advice might be the only way to really protect your privacy, it may be unrealistic. So understand that what you do on the job (and sometimes off) is all subject to scrutiny. Don’t go out of your way to expose your privacy, and the privacy of your family, to disclosure. Skip the apps, don’t call dispatch or make any other work-related calls on your personal phone, and don’t mix work and Facebook. By Bill Carroll See Sports Trivia Answers on page 66 1. Who was the last Red Sox player to amass 400 total bases in a season? 2. Who holds the all-time single season record for total bases? 3. Prior to the 2016 season who was the last Red Sox pitcher to win 20 games in a season? 4. How many times did Pedro Martinez win 20 games in a season? 5. What NFL wide receiver played the most career regular season games? 6. What NFL quarterback played for the most teams during his career? 7. What country won the last World Cup of Hockey? 8. Who holds the NBA record for highest field goal percentage in a season? 9. Who holds the NBA single season record for the most three point shots made? 10. Who won the 2015 PGA Tour FedEx Cup?