Scribe sent me this. It sort of makes you wonder who the NYPD is sharing this database with cell phone serial numbers with, doesn’t it?
The NYPD is amassing a database of cell phone users, instructing cops to log serial numbers from suspects’ phones in hopes of connecting them to past or future crimes.
[snip]
A recent internal memo says that when cops make an arrest, they should remove the suspect’s cell phone battery to avoid leakage – then jot down the International Mobile Equipment Identity number.
The IMEI number is registered with the service provider whenever a call is made.
And that data could allow a detective to match, for example, a cell phone used by one suspect to a phone used by another.
[snip]
The cell phone information joins another database of more than 20 million 911 callers that the NYPD has been building. It has paid off.
In one case involving a 911 call, detectives solved a burglary pattern after the suspect left a slip of paper with his cell number on it at a crime scene, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said.