Listening Devices? In the last few months, everyone in Italy is talking about telephone wiretapping, listening devices and, most of all, about the limitations of their use for investigative purposes, limitations that the government is trying to pass with a bill that has created controversy.
It looks like, in their frenzy for following the Leader’s every wish, most of the deputies in the government coalition have forgotten that, thanks to the installation of micro transmitters concealed in cars, houses or offices of suspects, it has been possible (and still is) to bring dangerous criminals before justice, while keeping a low level of risk for police detectives and making their job easier and more effective.
What are listening device for?
A GSM bug, for example, aside from picking up intelligence thanks to a hidden listening device microphone, can transmit them by phone, just like a normal mobile phone, even on the other side of the world, delivering absolute efficiency while wiping out any risk for agents, who are not forced to try to infiltrate terrorist cells or organized crime groups, running unimaginable risks.
So far, usage of interception technology allowed police to expose connections between different crimes, between organized crime and finance, between illicit activities and others that only apparently were really clean. By changing the law and making eavesdropping possible only before serious clues of guilt, and only for the offence in question, this possibility would be cut off, with a serious damage for public security. On top of that, the first draft of the bill would have prevented press from informing the citizens.
In other Western countries like the USA, resort to wiretapping is on the rise, allowing to uncover serious financial frauds such as the one run by Bernie Madoff, who in Italy, with such a bill, would get away with his crimes, in the face of citizens who struggle to survive on their salaries. Is this what you really want, Mr. Berlusconi?