OLYMPIA — Washington will soon require cellphone companies to give call location information to authorities searching for a person whose life may be in danger.
A new law signed Thursday is intended to provide law enforcement officers with another tool to use in emergency situations where someone is at risk of death or serious physical harm.
While police have been able to get cellphone location data from service carriers with a search warrant, the new law aims to create a clearer and quicker process for obtaining the information without a warrant in certain circumstances.
“It gives us additional options for what current law provides,” said James McMahan, policy director for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. “We think it will be helpful.”
Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, sponsored Senate Bill 5158 that Gov. Jay Inslee signed Thursday.
“It clears up the issue,” he said. “It was ambiguous as to whether they could do it or not. And it’s got the appropriate parameters on it to make sure the perpetrator isn’t the one asking for the information.”
McCoy began pushing for the legislation after receiving an email from Missey Smith whose daughter was killed in 2007. Kelsey Smith, 18, was kidnapped in a department store parking lot. She had been in possession of a cellphone that could have revealed her location but it took three days before the telecommunications company gave that information to police.
Washington is the 19th state to pass a law inspired by the Kelsey Smith case.
McCoy attributed part of his success in getting it passed to a personal experience last year — a burglary in his home. A cellphone was among the items stolen.
Because cops couldn’t ping the phone or contact the carrier without a warrant, McCoy used an iPad to electronically track the whereabouts of the missing phone and relayed the information to authorities who eventually caught the suspect.
“I was trying to educate my peers on why (the law) was needed and this situation helped shine the light on the matter. It showed using current technology we can recover people and lost or stolen items,” he said.
Under the new law, wireless telecommunications providers must provide call location information to a law enforcement agency responding to an emergency involving a person at risk of death or serious physical harm.
Before asking, authorities must make sure the person who made the request of them does not have a history of domestic violence or stalking, or a court order against them restricting contact with the missing person. And police also must check to see if the person reported missing is deliberately keeping their whereabouts a secret.
Providers of services for victims of domestic violence pressed for the strict rules on how requests for information would be handled. They wanted to prevent information on the location of a victims getting out to people who had attacked them.
Grace Huang, public policy director of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said they approached the bill from the perspective of victims and wanted to be sure the law cannot be used to find those who disappear on purpose to avoid an abuser.
Senate Bill 5158 passed unanimously in the House and Senate. It takes effect July 24.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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