Bill aims to speed search in abduction cases
Mar. 5—HIGH POINT — An area state legislator introduced a bill this week to make it easier for law enforcement officials to secure electronic device tracking information in abduction cases.
The filing of the bill takes place against the backdrop of area teenage girls recently being solicited by older men they met online, including a Davidson County girl who was abducted.
Rep. Pat Hurley, R-Randolph, introduced the Kelsey Smith Act to allow law enforcement to compel a quicker response from telecommunication companies to pinpoint the location of a cellphone or other digital device in an immediate life-or-death situation.
House Bill 213 is named for an 18-year-old woman killed nearly 15 years ago after being abducted in her hometown of Overland Park, Kansas. The Smith case prompted criminal reform activists and crime victim advocates to seek laws requiring cellphone providers to immediately provide digital location data in abduction cases.
The abduction of teenage girls achieved a high profile locally because of recent cases of girls being taken or contacted by older men who reached the girls through online platforms.
The most dramatic involved 14-year-old Savannah Grace Childress, who was abducted last month from her Davidson County home by a Pennsylvania man she met online. The girl was found safe later in February by law enforcement in Lonoke County, Arkansas.
The man who abducted the girl, William Ice, 38, shot and killed himself after he fired at an Arkansas law enforcement officer attempting to apprehend him, Arkansas officials said.
The local abduction cases provide more impetus for House Bill 213, Hurley told The High Point Enterprise.
"If they can get there quickly, they have a better chance of saving them," she said.
Hurley said 27 states have passed versions of the Kelsey Smith Act.
The main hurdle to the bill centers on constitutional and legal questions such as what constitutes stepping over the line of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that law enforcement and government agencies generally need a warrant to collect location data about customers of cellphone providers. However, the court said in the Carpenter v. United States ruling that exceptions could be made in situations of imminent threat.
The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union opposes House Bill 213, said Ann Webb, senior policy counsel.
"Current law appears to be sufficient, and cellular service providers are well equipped to quickly and efficiently respond to emergency requests by law enforcement and do so regularly," Webb said. "But if this bill moves forward, it should at least require law enforcement to have probable cause to believe that an emergency exists, and after disclosures are made, a court should review each case and notify the person whose location was shared. These tools would help catch anyone who may be impersonating law enforcement as well as prevent abuse by law enforcement."
Hurley has introduced the Kelsey Smith Act or versions of it in previous legislative sessions. Through her advocacy of the legislation, Hurley has become friends with Kelsey Smith's parents, Greg and Missey Smith.
"Missey Smith continues to ask me to put in the bill," said Hurley, whose legislative district covers Archdale, Trinity and northern Randolph County.
Hurley said she's considering asking Smith's parents to travel from their home in Kansas to testify on the bill before a House legislative committee in Raleigh if it receives a hearing.
pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul
