NCJ Number
125933
Date Published
1990
Length
169 pages
Annotation
Under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts is required to submit an annual report on the number of applications for orders authorizing or approving the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications (wiretaps).
Abstract
The body of the report contains tables outlining the jurisdictions of statutes authorizing wiretaps, the intercept orders issued by judges during calendar year 1989, the major offenses for which court-ordered wiretaps were approved, a summary of interceptions during 1989, the average cost per court order, the type of surveillance used and arrests or convictions where intercepts were installed, and reviews over the past several years of authorized intercepts and arrests or convictions. The statistics show that the number of applications for Federal wiretap orders increased a total of 6 percent, due to an increase of 22 percent in orders involving drug investigations. The percentage of orders represented by Federal investigations has increased steadily; they now comprise over 40 percent compared to 16 percent in 1979. The appendix tables list all reports filed by Federal judges and prosecutors, State judges and prosecutors, and supplementary reports submitted by prosecutors concerning investigations conducted in 1989 as a result of information obtained from intercepts initially reported in previous years. 9 tables and 2 appendixes.