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State, Boston police caught using high-tech surveillance gadgetry without a warrant – The Boston Globe

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State, Boston police caught using high-tech surveillance gadgetry without a warrant – The Boston Globe


The undercover officer conducted three meetings with Du in total — none with a warrant, but all recorded courtesy of the state-of-the-art Callyo cellphone app, being marketed to police around the country as an investigative tool that, as its website describes, is “hidden in plain sight technology [that] makes body wires a thing of the past.”

The Appeals Court ruled earlier this month the recordings were “unlawful interceptions” that would be “excluded from evidence.” It also noted in a footnote, “When police wish to use a novel surveillance tool such as Callyo, we encourage them to seek a search warrant beforehand.”

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Days before the court handed down its decision in the Du case, a warning went out to the legal community from the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state’s public defenders, that the “Massachusetts State Police has regularly been using covert surveillance technology resulting in audio and/or video to be recorded, even in cases where there was no wiretap warrant,” CPCS Special Projects counsel Ben Leatherman said in a memo. “The MSP has identified more than 250 cases where recordings exist and may not have been turned over [to defense counsel].”

The storm has been brewing since last March, when, as first reported by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early’s office discovered 28 previously unidentified recordings, involving at least three troopers and a multiagency drug investigation.

Early’s first assistant, Jeffrey Travers, fired off a letter to Colonel John E. Mawn Jr., interim head of the State Police, noting that reports provided to the DA’s office “did not memorialize the existence of the recordings” and demanding a “review of the process.”

An internal audit over the summer turned up some 250 cases from around the state and for a variety of offenses, Leatherman told the Globe editorial board.

“There has been no independent investigation” of the scope of the problem, he added. “But our suspicion is that it goes beyond the 250 State Police cases” and is likely to involve other police departments.

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Now Boston is on that list.

The latest gadget in the law enforcement toolbox has now sent defense attorneys scrambling to file discovery motions looking for those cellphone recordings and may well force prosecutors to reopen, retry, or move to dismiss cases based on police failure to get a warrant.

“We weren’t fully aware of the extent of this until late in the summer,” Leatherman said. “Ideally there should be some systemic investigation. But it’s still too early to know what a global resolution would look like.”

Callyo, acquired by Motorola systems in 2020, has been marketed to law enforcement as, according to its website, a way to “record your mobile phone conversations with the community” and “export recordings for evidence or case recall” or more descriptively a “mobile bug.”

The city of Seattle’s publicly available “privacy impact assessment” of the technology notes “the technology can record all calls made to/from the masked phone, covertly record audio as well as GPS locate the phone of a caller.” But, it adds for all of those reasons, “the technology is used only with [a] search warrant.”

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Not so apparently here — at least until rather late in the game.

It wasn’t until June 29, after the scope of the State Police misconduct was becoming clear, that Mawn issued a “general order” on “Covert Audio Recordings,” prohibiting such recordings without “documented supervisory approval” and requiring officers to “secure a wiretap warrant when seeking to make non-consensual recordings in either state or federal investigations.” Department spokesperson Dave Procopio confirmed that in the wake of the Du decision “we have directed all investigative units to obtain the appropriate warrant prior to using the Callyo app for audio or video surveillance during undercover transactions with the purpose of collecting evidence.”

Boston police haven’t yet responded to a public records request from CPCS on the issue of whether BPD has a written protocol for dealing with covert surveillance using the Callyo app. Neither has the BPD responded to a Globe editorial board inquiry about the extent of its use by the department.

Written protocols are at least better late than never in the case of the State Police. A mandated “privacy impact assessment” of any new technology ahead of purchase and deployment — à la the Seattle system — would be even better. The fact remains that no one knows how many police departments in Massachusetts are making use of the technology and with what guardrails.

As the Appeals Court noted, “Because our statutes and Declaration of Rights may be more protective of individual privacy rights than similar laws in some other States, the police should not simply rely on the fact that the tool has been used in other jurisdictions.”

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State and Boston police would have saved themselves — and the legal system — a whole heap of trouble had they considered that before using the latest shiny object in the law enforcement catalogue.


Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.





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Boston, MA

Boston’s Southern French Restaurant Marseille Calls It Quits

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Boston’s Southern French Restaurant Marseille Calls It Quits


Marseille, an 18-month-old French restaurant located at 560 Harrison Avenue in the South End, has closed down. The restaurant posted a message on Instagram last week alerting diners that it would be shutting down the social media account (which is now gone), and its OpenTable page now reads that Marseille has permanently closed as of Monday, January 13. No specific reason was given for the shutter. Owned by French restaurateur Loic Le Garric, the restaurant was his ode to sunny Southern French cuisine in various forms, including grilled octopus, a rich seafood stew, trout almondine, and more. Le Garric did not immediately respond to questions about the restaurant’s closure. The restaurateur’s other French spots, including Batifol (in Kendall Square) and Petit Robert Bistro (also in the South End), plus bakery and cafe PRB Boulangerie, remain open.

Boston is getting a new Detroit-style pizzeria

Descendant Detroit Style Pizza, a Toronto-based company with two locations there, is opening up a third shop inside the Prudential Center, Boston Restaurant Talk reports. It’ll be the first U.S. location for the pizza shop, which bills itself as Canada’s first Detroit-style pizzeria, and is yet another addition to Boston’s burgeoning Detroit-style pizza scene, which includes stalwarts like the five-year-old Avenue Kitchen & Bar in Somerville and newer additions like Detroit Pizza Co. in Brighton.

A tiny Cape Cod restaurant steps into the spotlight at Raffles

Luxurious Portuguese restaurant Amar, located inside high-end Boston hotel Raffles, is hosting a one-night-only collaboration dinner with Cape Cod tasting menu spot Clean Slate Eatery this month. Amar chef George Mendes and Clean Slate Eatery chef Jason Montigel are putting together a six-course dinner with dishes such as local oysters with a lemon-horseradish granita, bay scallops with Eastham turnips, winter squash, country ham croquettes, and Satsuma citrus, and a quail roulade with quince-vanilla puree, Périgord black truffles, and maitake mushrooms. The event takes place on Wednesday, January 22. Tickets are $175 per person; reservations can be made here.





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Red Sox's Alex Cora Reveals New Plan For Top Boston Prospect

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Red Sox's Alex Cora Reveals New Plan For Top Boston Prospect


The Boston Red Sox are setting the bar high for top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer.

Mayer, baseball’s No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will be challenged this upcoming season to showcase his defensive versatility. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters during Saturday’s Fenway Fest that the plan will be for the 22-year-old to play shortstop, second base and third base, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith.

Boston promoted Mayer, alongside Roman Anthony and ex-Red Sox prospect Kyle Teel, to Triple-A Worcester last season. Mayer, now 240 minor league appearances deep into his professional career, has logged 238 appearances at shortstop. So, the organization’s plan will pose an opportunity for Mayer to get familiar with other areas around the infield before Boston gives him the long-awaited call to its big league club.

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It’s not an easy transition, but Cora isn’t alone in believing that Mayer is up for the test.

“I think he has the ability and maturity to be an all the way around infielder,” Red Sox infield instructor Jose Flores said Saturday, per Smith. “That being said, no doubt that he can play the left side of the field. Obviously second base will probably be a position that will be a little bit more awkward for him to learn on a faster pace just because it’s his blind side when turning double plays and all that. And it’s a little bit different. But it’s something that I know for a fact that he can pick up really fast. No doubt.”

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Boston selected Mayer, a shortstop out of Eastlake High School, with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft, and allowed him to maintain that position.

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Mayer made 65 starts at shortstop for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs last season and just one at third base, committing a combined 11 errors including one in four defensive chances at the hot corner.

He also batted .307 with eight home runs, 28 doubles, 38 RBIs and a .370 on-base percentage in 77 games with the Sea Dogs. Mayer didn’t get a chance to take the field with Boston’s Triple-A crew after suffering an immediate lumbar strain upon his promotion, which ended Mayer’s 2024 season in late August.

That concluded Mayer’s fourth season in Boston’s farm system on a rough note, however, it didn’t discourage the organization one bit.

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“I want to see the kids play,” Cora said, per Smith. “(Kristian) Campbell and Marcelo and Roman — I want to see them play.”

Mayer is expected to be ready by the start of spring training.



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Watch New Orleans Pelicans vs. Boston Celtics free live stream

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Watch New Orleans Pelicans vs. Boston Celtics free live stream


There is NBA action on Sunday, Jan. 12 that sees the Boston Celtics welcoming the New Orleans Pelicans to TD Garden in Boston.

The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Boston. Fans looking to watch this NBA game can do so for free by using DirecTV Stream, which offers a free trial. You can also watch on FuboTV, which also offers a free trial and $30 off your first month, or SlingTV, which doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available.

The Celtics have lost two of their last three and are 11-8 since the start of December, and now sit at 27-11, still the second-best mark in the East. The Pelicans are 8-31, but have won three of their last five.

  • WATCH THE GAME FOR FREE HERE

Who: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Boston Celtics

When: Sunday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. EST

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Where: TD Garden in Boston

Stream: FuboTV; Sling; DirecTV Stream (free trial)

Betting: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.

What is FuboTV?

FuboTV is an internet television service that offers more than 200 channels across sports and entertainment including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. From the UEFA Champions League to the WNBA to international tournaments ranging across sports, there’s plenty of options available on FuboTV, which offers a free trial and $30 off the first month for new customers.

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What is DirecTV Stream?

DirecTV Stream offers practically everything DirecTV provides, except for a remote and a streaming device to connect to your television. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.

What is SlingTV?

SlingTV offers a variety of live programing ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancelation.

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An NBA 1st: Jokic, Westbrook record triple-doubles in same game for 2nd time this season

By MICHAEL KELLY Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook made NBA history on Friday night, becoming the first pair of teammates to record a triple-double in the same game multiple times in a single season.

Jokic finished with 35 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds for his NBA-leading 15th triple-double of the season in the Nuggets’ 124-105 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Westbrook had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I think it’s that’s the style both of us play,” Jokic said. “I’m just glad we’re winning the games because that’s more important than the stats. It’s special, the relationship, how the guys are willing to run the lanes and get to the corner. They know the ball’s going to find them.”

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They’re also the first to record a 25-point triple-double in the same regular-season game.

“Wow. That’s pretty crazy. We’re watching history, folks,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.

The pair also accomplished the feat at Utah on Dec. 30. Jokic had 36 points, 22 rebounds and 11 assists that night while Westbrook had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Westbrook made all seven of his shot attempts, both free throw attempts and didn’t have a turnover in that game.

Westbrook credited Malone with giving him the freedom to play his game.

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“Being able to do that allows me to be able to make guys around me better,” Westbrook said Friday. “Try to bring this team some leadership, some energy, some toughness. We’re just getting started on figuring it out.”

Jokic had missed the previous two games with an illness before returning against the Nets. He went to the bench late in the third quarter one rebound shy of his 145th career triple-double and the Nuggets leading by 18.

Brooklyn rallied to get within five and Jokic returned and had nine points, four assists and three rebounds in the fourth.

Jokic got his 10th rebound after Westbrook blocked Keon Johnson’s shot with 6:51 left.

Westbrook had four assists in the fourth to record his 202nd career triple-double, which is the most in an NBA career. It was his third triple-double this season, his first in Denver.

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Westbrook signed with the Nuggets last summer after spending the last three seasons in Los Angeles with both the Lakers and the Clippers.

The Associated Press contributed to this article



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