Cell phone pings proved crucial in helping Washington state police track down Dustin Reed, 35. Cell phone pings “were very critical in this case,” said Randy Kaut, Chehalis deputy police chief. “Who knows how long it would have lasted if we hadn’t had the location of the phone.”
Reed’s cell phone number was known so—with the cooperation of Sprint—the first ping came in. It placed Reed inside a Fred Meyer store in Bonney Lake, Washington. Several pings later, police tracked Reed to the store’s parking lot and made the arrest.
Lesson learned: If you think you may be under surveillance, remember that many cell phones can be pinged
even when they are turned off. Either leave it in some location that cannot be tracked back to you, or remove the battery.
Labels: avoid surveillance, cell phone tracking, police tracking
Privacy blog post by JJ Luna at 1:53 PM
