Police support cell phone bill

Local law enforcement officials are hoping a proposed law that would require cell phone companies to cooperate with law enforcement officers in cases of emergency will pass in the Kansas Senate.

The bill, also know as Kelsey’s Law, would require the phone companies to cooperate with law enforcement to send out a signal or “ping” to an active cell phone to locate a missing person.

The bill easily passed the House 118-1 on Feb. 20 and is set for hearing today in Senate Utilities Committee of which local Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, is a member. The bill must make it out of committee by March 20 in order for it to be debated in the full Senate this session.

The law was championed by the family of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith of Johnson County who was kidnaped and murdered in 2007.

A ping to her cell phone helped lead law enforcement to her body but not before a delay because of wranglings with the cell phone company.

Smith was missing for four days, but once law enforcement gained access to the cell information, her body was found in a matter of hours.

Newton Police Chief Jim Daily said he strongly supported the measure.

“I think its the biggest tragedy when lives are hanging in the balance that our attempts to save lives are bogged down by bureaucratic red tape,” Daily said.

Daily said time can make a difference if a person is hurt or foul play is suspected.

Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton, formerly a lieutenant with the Newton Police Department, said there have been several instances during the years in which immediate access to a cell phone ping would have helped their cases.

“I think it would be a great thing to pass,” Walton said of the bill. “There are situations in which we needed access to cell phones instantly.”

Instead, law enforcement has to file affidavits with the county attorney for subpoenas, have those faxed to the cell phone companies and wait hours or days for the paperwork to be processed.

Walton investigated the disappearance of a Salina man who was last seen in the Newton area.

His family feared he had been the victim of foul play.

The Newton Police Department spent the better part of a day trying to get the cell company to ping the man’s phone.

Once they did, the man was located safely within yards of the location pinpointed by the cell company.

The department lost a lead on a case because they could not get the cell company to ping a phone quickly enough, Walton said.

A local farmer had been badly beaten, and the suspects had taken his cell phone. By the time the cell company pinged the phone, the suspects had disposed of the phone.