Court order gives OPP cell numbers for ‘new investigation technique’

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said it has obtained the cell phone numbers of potential witnesses of a homicide through a court-processed production order. In a news release Wednesday, the OPP said wireless providers were compelled to provide the numbers so it can send texts to people who were in the vicinity of the last known location of 65-year-old Frederick Hatch, who was last seen alive in Ottawa on Dec. 16, 2015, his body discovered a day later. The text message will “ask recipients to visit a website and voluntarily answer a few simple questions to possibly help the OPP solve this murder,” it said in the release, hailing it as an “innovative new technique to identify potential witnesses for an ongoing homicide investigation.” The OPP said it did not receive the names or any other contact information tied to the numbers, but said respondents will have the option to provide that information. It added recipients will have the option to call the OPP tip line to speak directly to an investigator and that any information provided and names of potential witnesses “will be kept confidential, subject to any eventual court processes related to the murder.” When asked what kind of precedent this order will set for future investigations, acting sergeant Angie Atkinson said in a phone interview, “we can’t speculate what’s going to happen in the future.” She referred a question about what wireless companies were involved to another spokesperson, who did not respond by deadline. “This is kind of an unprecedented type of event for us to participate in. So for the investigation, they’re just seeing what kind of information that it will actually provide for them in moving forward to try to identify or locate Mr. Hatch’s killer.” When asked about the investigation before question period Wednesday, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale, acknowledging the “innovative technique,” said the OPP will “need to be sure that they are explicitly following the law and the Charter and all the provisions about court supervisions.” He added that the OPP’s transparency on the matter — the fact that it released a news bulletin about it — “is a good indication.”

Court order gives OPP cell numbers for ‘new investigation technique’

Brief | October 26, 2016

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Court order gives OPP cell numbers for ‘new investigation technique’

Brief | October 26, 2016

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