Message posted by gary on March 10, 2001 at 00:15:15 EST:

Norio:

I scan the Las Vegas PD when I'm in town and they use social security numbers instead of drivers license numbers (as done in California), so I don't think you were singled out.

I don't know if the Lincoln County Sherif uses the social security number, but next time I'm in the groom area I'm going to park a scanner on the sherrif freq. I would bet that they do use the social security number since they are running "wants and warrants" from a centralized database, just like Las Vegas PD, and probably require the same input data. Maybe Swede can verify that the PD still gives out social security numbers.

FWIW, you were FI'd (field identified). Police like to collect names, and it's pretty legal. You have to give them a name that shows up in the usual databases. I know in California, the PD can legally drag you to the station and finger print you if you can't be identified. However, once you are identified you have some rights. You can ask the officer to state "probable cause". Sometimes they turn you lose real quickly when you do this, but if a crime happened nearby and you remotely fit the description, they can detain you. Incidentally, the PD can legally collect names, but in California you can't organize a database around these names thanks to some successful ALCU lawsuits. [I don't know about Nevada.] There are tricks to this. For instance, you can't make a database of "people who peep on military bases", but you enter the names of people FI'd into a "history" file based on location.

It would be damn tough to keep your cool under the circumstances you were under, so congrats for getting through it.

In Reply to: Re: Question for Norio Hayakawa posted by Norio Hayakawa on March 09, 2001 at 23:20:09 EST:

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