Maine police watched a suspect through a neighbor's camera for 3 years without a warrant

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://themainemonitor.org/police-watched-suspect-neighbors-camera/



“Three years is one of the longest ones I’ve seen,” Hubbard said, referring to the situation in Westbrook. He believes that long-term pole camera surveillance is headed for the Supreme Court, and the justices will rule it requires a warrant.

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Police arrested Banks in March 2024 after he allegedly exchanged gunfire with someone who came to his Cumberland Street apartment. Officers used the neighbor’s camera footage to identify him, court records show. Banks has a felony record that prohibits him from carrying a firearm and faces charges for possessing a gun that police found in his home that night.

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Until last week, Banks’ attorney believed the camera just happened to catch the shooting. Last week, she learned there was more to the story. When the neighbor installed the camera in January 2021, he granted Phil Robinson, a Westbrook police officer and state drug enforcement agent, ongoing access to the camera feed, the court filing says.
Gonzales confirmed the information with prosecutors last week following an interview that her investigator conducted with the neighbor. The neighbor, a public safety employee for a neighboring town, previously contacted local police about disturbances and suspicious activity in the apartment building where Banks lived, according to an FBI interview conducted with Robinson that was cited in the motion.

Robinson, who retired earlier this year after 20 years with the Westbrook police, had checked the feed “with some regularity” over the years, the document stated.

Gonzales argued the prolonged, ongoing nature of the officer’s access to the camera feed constituted a level of surveillance that should have required a search warrant, where the officer would have had to show a judge probable cause to conduct the monitoring. The camera had a view of the house that was not available to members of the public, she said.

[LearnedHand]

1. I wonder if the neighbor's willing granting of the camera access will change the case?

Could it have been more like ongoing tips from the neighbor? This will be an interesting defense.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. A "tip" isnt grounds for surveillance..has to go the proper channels to a warrant

Otherwise.."i think my neighbor is stockpiling illegal drugs" and cops break down the door without warrant.

[Ponietz]

3. Using neighbor's camera will be ruled no search

Cops can investigate anyone they want. No warrant required. It’s over — we live in a surveillance State.