Wait, that doesn't make any sense. You say you can't get a search warrant to search for an item that isn't connected with a crime -- would not the theft of the iPhone be a crime? (If I understand the story, this isn't just an iPhone, it's a prototype for their next line and therefore extremely valuable to the corporation.) And if Apple
didn't file it as a crime, why would the police show up? And if they DID have a GPS trace, why didn't they show up with a warrant instead of showing up and questioning him about his immigration status?
If there actually was a unique GPS trace, this should have been a simple warrant and search situation. A warrant and search would have been better -- they wouldn't have needed permission, and they could have done a more thorough search. (Considering that they searched the house with permission and didn't find anything, this would be pertinent.)
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...weekly-updated
According to this article:
1. The police accompanied the Apple employees to the man's house, and questioned him, but stayed outside while the Apple employees searched the man's house. The police officers were not involved in the search -- which I actually consider to be highly suspicious.
2. The police didn't file a report, due to Apple's request that a report not be filed.
IANAL, and gods know if this is legal. But it stinks to me. I would NOT be okay with police officers showing civilians to my door and hassling me about my immigration status until I agree to let them in my house and search my belongings.
And I don't see anything about GPS in the SF Weekly article I could find:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...ple_police.php
Where's your link? Looks like this may not be the only one they wrote. However, if the only mention of GPS is from the Apple detective trying to talk his way into the house, there's no reason to believe that's not a lie. Detectives do that from time to time.
Quote:
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At the least, the incident is sure to raise questions about the propriety of multiple SFPD officers helping private detectives conduct a search -- which was never properly recorded, per standard police operating procedure -- of somebody's home. "Apple came to us saying that they were looking for a lost item, and some plainclothes officers responded out to the house with them," [Lt.] Dangerfield said.
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