Robert Kraft case reveals how police can secretly install hidden cameras inside a private business

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

This reminds me of year 2000 and watching Congress on C-SPAN grilling the FBI on when the individuals who had not committed any crimes but whose information was collected by their Carnivore software would find out that their privacy had been violated.. The FBI's response was "they generally find out when they are charged with the crime". Congress responded with "and those who aren't?" to which the FBI replied "they don't". Really?

A CNBC investigation: "Sneak-and-peek" warrants are increasingly used by police agencies to record private wrongdoing on video.

The Orchids of Asia Day Spa is shown in Jupiter, Florida on Feb. 22, 2019.Joe Skipper / Reuters file
March 14, 2019, 6:58 AM PDT
By Contessa Brewer, Scott Zamost, Hannah Kliot and Bianca Fortis, CNBC

The video is in color and explicit.

It shows hours and hours of male customers having sex with masseuses inside a South Florida massage parlor. Police installed hidden cameras inside the business to capture prostitution on tape.​

And it's legal.

The footage, obtained by CNBC, is from a 2015 South Florida massage parlor investigation where police installed hidden cameras after hiring a locksmith to get inside the business in order to capture prostitution taking place in the rooms. The spa later shut down after police arrested dozens of customers. Police were able to install hidden cameras after obtaining a special warrant.

The technique was used recently in a sweeping human trafficking investigation in South Florida in which New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was among those arrested. In the investigation, hidden cameras were used to capture Kraft on video inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, police records show. Kraft, 77, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of solicitation.

"From the attorney general of the state of Florida to other law enforcement agencies that have contacted us, and me personally, the question is, how in the world did you do this?" Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told CNBC.

The answer: delayed-notice search warrants, better known as sneak-and-peek warrants.

The warrants allow law enforcement to secretly install hidden cameras inside private businesses to monitor illegal activity.​

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

So essentially they're saying the end justifies the means? That's like the police gunning down a person for a misdemeanor crime such as shoplifting or some other misdemeanor crime for which the punishment is certainly not summary execution.

Use of warrants questioned
John Wesley Hall, a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said sneak-and-peek warrants can be a valuable tool, but that law enforcement officials need a strong case to use them.

"It's really '1984,' except that you don't know the camera is there," said Hall, who wrote a book called "Search and Seizure" and maintains a blog on the Fourth Amendment.

In the case of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, Hall questioned whether the use of video surveillance was reasonable by a legal standard. For the general public, filming someone in an intimate setting without consent is a crime, he said.

2015 hidden camera police footage inside a Florida day spa.Police surveillance video
He said more appropriate uses for delayed-notice search warrants might be very serious crimes – like murder or organized crime. Prostitution is a comparatively "low-level" offense, he said.

"If a defendant puts cameras in certain places, he's a video voyeur," Hall said. "But if the government does it with a warrant, then they're not video voyeurs ... allegedly."

Four women who worked in the Martin County spas were arrested, but could be eligible for special visas as trafficking victims if they cooperate with authorities, police said.​

 

[Pogo]

Seems to me if you can't audio-record somebody without telling them, then AT LEAST the same applies to video in a private space.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Seems to me if you can't audio-record somebody without telling them, then AT LEAST the same applies to video in a private space.

Recordings are regulated at the state level although there is also a federal law as well but everything hinges, at least in my state upon "a reasonable expectation of privacy". That includes places where we expect we are alone or have a degree of privacy such as in a bathroom, dresing room, one's bedroom, etc. Surreptitous recordings made in those places without the consent of those recorded can be deemed to be a violation of privacy except apparently when the police do it.

In some states, workers have been ruled to have an expectation of privacy in their personal possessions in their locked office or desk or vehicle just as a couple of examples, but if you noted in the article, these sneak & peek warrants were formalized by the U.S. Patriot Act which basically supends the rights of anyone accused whether the accusation is true or not.

What I was wondering was why Kraft was even in such a place to begin with. I don't understand why someone of his status would be "slumming" if you get my drift.

 

[Shrimpbox]

Good question.

 

[Polishprince]

What I was wondering was why Kraft was even in such a place to begin with. I don't understand why someone of his status would be "slumming" if you get my drift.

I'd like to know how they knew it was Mr. Kraft. Or even more so, how they identified all of the other , less prominent individuals in the tapes.

It wasn't like they nabbed them right there, like that Chris Hansen does with the predator population.

 

[Dekster]

Life Hack: If you are in a sketchy business, always have at least one employee who is one of those OCD folks who will notice absolutely every little detail of everything and notice when something is different. .

 

[Snouter]

So comforting law enforcement is cracking down on hand jobs, while black and brown gangs are killing every weekend.

 

[22lcidw]

The surveillance totalitarian society is expanding mightily. For the good of catching truth it is also abused and destroys people.

 

[Dekster]

So comforting law enforcement is cracking down on hand jobs, while black and brown gangs are killing every weekend.

Meh.....I am all for legalized prostitution. I suspect some of these strip mall Asian joints are peripheral human traffickers joints

 

[Toronado3800]

This reminds me of year 2000 and watching Congress on C-SPAN grilling the FBI on when the individuals who had not committed any crimes but whose information was collected by their Carnivore software would find out that their privacy had been violated.. The FBI's response was "they generally find out when they are charged with the crime". Congress responded with "and those who aren't?" to which the FBI replied "they don't". Really?

A CNBC investigation: "Sneak-and-peek" warrants are increasingly used by police agencies to record private wrongdoing on video.

The Orchids of Asia Day Spa is shown in Jupiter, Florida on Feb. 22, 2019.Joe Skipper / Reuters file
March 14, 2019, 6:58 AM PDT
By Contessa Brewer, Scott Zamost, Hannah Kliot and Bianca Fortis, CNBC

The video is in color and explicit.

It shows hours and hours of male customers having sex with masseuses inside a South Florida massage parlor. Police installed hidden cameras inside the business to capture prostitution on tape.​

And it's legal.

The footage, obtained by CNBC, is from a 2015 South Florida massage parlor investigation where police installed hidden cameras after hiring a locksmith to get inside the business in order to capture prostitution taking place in the rooms. The spa later shut down after police arrested dozens of customers. Police were able to install hidden cameras after obtaining a special warrant.

The technique was used recently in a sweeping human trafficking investigation in South Florida in which New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was among those arrested. In the investigation, hidden cameras were used to capture Kraft on video inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, police records show. Kraft, 77, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of solicitation.

"From the attorney general of the state of Florida to other law enforcement agencies that have contacted us, and me personally, the question is, how in the world did you do this?" Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told CNBC.

The answer: delayed-notice search warrants, better known as sneak-and-peek warrants.

The warrants allow law enforcement to secretly install hidden cameras inside private businesses to monitor illegal activity.​

Wire or video taps are legal with a warrant I believe. Is that the issue here? You are saying they should not be?

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Wire or video taps are legal with a warrant I believe. Is that the issue here? You are saying they should not be?

If you patronize a business for non-criminal purposes how is it not an invasion of your privacy to be video-taped in the state of undress or partial undress because of the criminal activities of others? You think this would be okay at the local gyn while you're in the shower? You really trust people who you dont' know to not do something they shouldn't with that footage, even if they are the police?

And no I believe the use of these sneak & peek warrants bump up against our 4th amendment protections especially when they're used for a fishing expedition instead of being based on a valid legal basis. Do you even know the difference between a regular warrant and a sneak & peek delayed notification warrant? While you're Googling that, also look up the FBI national security letter, secret subpeonas, etc. In my digital forensics classes, they call these black bag entries, made with a warrant but designed to be undetectable to the occupants.

You wouldn't have a problem with audio & video cameras being installed in your home while you were away so that the governmetn can document the things you do in your own home sans any valid legal accusation or proof of criminal activity? What happened to the 4th Amendment right of "the people" to be secure in their homes, papers (smart phones), affects, etc?

And remember under the Patriot Act, you don't actually have to be guilty of anything, someone just has to make the accusation even if it's false. I have first hand knowledge of the bunch of bullshit excuses about why it's absolutely imperative that someone needs entrance to my home while I'm not there and even single one of them stunk. Now I know why.

 

[Toronado3800]

Wire or video taps are legal with a warrant I believe. Is that the issue here? You are saying they should not be?

If you patronize a business for non-criminal purposes how is it not an invasion of your privacy to be video-taped in the state of undress or partial undress because of the criminal activities of others? You think this would be okay at the local gyn while you're in the shower? You really trust people who you dont' know to not do something they shouldn't with that footage, even if they are the police?

And no I believe the use of these sneak & peek warrants bump up against our 4th amendment protections especially when they're used for a fishing expedition instead of being based on a valid legal basis. Do you even know the difference between a regular warrant and a sneak & peek delayed notification warrant? While you're Googling that, also look up the FBI national security letter, secret subpeonas, etc. In my digital forensics classes, they call these black bag entries, made with a warrant but designed to be undetectable to the occupants.

You wouldn't have a problem with audio & video cameras being installed in your home while you were away so that the governmetn can document the things you do in your own home sans any valid legal accusation or proof of criminal activity? What happened to the 4th Amendment right of "the people" to be secure in their homes, papers (smart phones), affects, etc?

And remember under the Patriot Act, you don't actually have to be guilty of anything, someone just has to make the accusation even if it's false. I have first hand knowledge of the bunch of bullshit excuses about why it's absolutely imperative that someone needs entrance to my home while I'm not there and even single one of them stunk. Now I know why.

The Patriot Act era surveillance laws are very open ended to say the least.

I'd expect cops to be able to watch or listen in on private businesses with a legit warrant though.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Wire or video taps are legal with a warrant I believe. Is that the issue here? You are saying they should not be?

If you patronize a business for non-criminal purposes how is it not an invasion of your privacy to be video-taped in the state of undress or partial undress because of the criminal activities of others? You think this would be okay at the local gyn while you're in the shower? You really trust people who you dont' know to not do something they shouldn't with that footage, even if they are the police?

And no I believe the use of these sneak & peek warrants bump up against our 4th amendment protections especially when they're used for a fishing expedition instead of being based on a valid legal basis. Do you even know the difference between a regular warrant and a sneak & peek delayed notification warrant? While you're Googling that, also look up the FBI national security letter, secret subpeonas, etc. In my digital forensics classes, they call these black bag entries, made with a warrant but designed to be undetectable to the occupants.

You wouldn't have a problem with audio & video cameras being installed in your home while you were away so that the governmetn can document the things you do in your own home sans any valid legal accusation or proof of criminal activity? What happened to the 4th Amendment right of "the people" to be secure in their homes, papers (smart phones), affects, etc?

And remember under the Patriot Act, you don't actually have to be guilty of anything, someone just has to make the accusation even if it's false. I have first hand knowledge of the bunch of bullshit excuses about why it's absolutely imperative that someone needs entrance to my home while I'm not there and even single one of them stunk. Now I know why.

The Patriot Act era surveillance laws are very open ended to say the least.

I'd expect cops to be able to watch or listen in on private businesses with a legit warrant though.

The issue is that there is a huge difference between surveillance that is conducted during the course of an investigation and that is authorized via a warrant which is supposed to be specific as to what is being sought and specifies the time frame (they're not allowed for an indefinite period of time) as opposed to open-ended "intelligence gathering" conducted under the guise of the war on terrorism, drugs, whatever

Warrant Execution and Unreasonable Police Behavior​

and

Surveillance Under the USA/PATRIOT Act
​