POLICE GET OK TO TAP TEXT MESSAGES

Chicago Police will start intercepting text messages during their
investigations now that Gov. Blagojevich has signed a bill expanding
state-authorized wiretaps beyond "oral communication."

Lt. John Rowton of the Chicago Police Narcotics and Gang Investigation
Section said the department will dismantle computer software that blocks
text messages that are retrieved during state-authorized wiretaps of phones.

The feds already have the capability to intercept text messages, but
Illinois law had lagged behind other states such as California and Arizona,
Rowton said.

Need Judge's OK

"This is a great tool," Rowton said of the new law. "We have done wiretaps
where you get a text message at a crucial time and are in the dark. You
don't know what you are missing."

Wiretaps are a relatively rare tool in the Cook County justice system.
Investigators must seek approval from the chief judge and prove they've
exhausted other investigative techniques.

Rowton would not discuss how many wiretaps the Chicago Police Department
does, but said there is one being conducted now.

"You have days of boredom and all of a sudden all hell breaks loose," he
said. "What if you are listening to a kidnapping and all of a sudden they
start text messaging? Now we can look at what they're saying."

New Gun Penalty

The Cook County state's attorney's office pushed for the passage of the
bill in Springfield.

"We're never going to let the gangs get ahead of us in this technological
age. This will help us combat the guns, the gangs and the drugs," said
Scott Seder, an assistant state's attorney.

Earlier this week, Blagojevich signed a bill that creates stiff new
penalties for habitual offenders caught with guns. The law requires prison
terms of six to 30 years when a habitual offender -- someone convicted of
two or more violent crimes -- for having or selling a gun.