# Wire-tapping

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wire-tapping/59018>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 22, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wire-tapping/59018 "2001-03-22T16:48:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wire-tapping/59018/1 "2001-03-22T16:48:20Z")

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I was watching a crime thing on A&E last night where two hijackers were caught after police broke into their home and wire-tapped it. I also know that John Gotti was convicted in part due to evidence police got after wire-tapping his house.  
How is this legal?

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wire-tapping/59018/2 "2001-03-22T17:03:57Z")

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It’s a form of search requiring probable cause and a warrant, but legal for law enforcement to do if those criteria are met. Some background:

[http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/news/diffie/wiretapping.html](http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/news/diffie/wiretapping.html)

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**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wire-tapping/59018/3 "2001-03-22T17:16:18Z")

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Here’s Cecil himself on the subject:

[Can the cops legally burglarize your house?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_149.html)

Arjuna34

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**Author:** ![audiocarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@audiocarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiocarp)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wire-tapping/59018/4 "2003-08-11T11:56:14Z")

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Police don’t need to gain entry to place a tap on your phone line, as anyone who works with phone lines (or has a passing knowledge of electronics) can tell you. The phone co. is quite willing to aid in tracing calls for law enforcement and setting up “pen registers” which record the time and number of each outgoing call on a given line, so why wouldn’t they provide an extension to the local precinct so they can listen in? Of course, the cops still need that warrant. (However, that rule may not apply to the big boys at the NSA.) So the only reason cops need to gain entry is to place a room bug for continuous monitoring (I guess they don’t have those laser bugs that can listen from the other side of a window?)