GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay police say when Luis Cardona abducted his ex Babette Caraballo at gunpoint Tuesday morning, the incident was serious and time wasn’t on their side.
“We did use phone pinging in that case yesterday,” said Cullen Peltier.
He’s the director of public safety communications for Brown County. His department helped with Tuesday’s kidnapping investigation.
Kewaunee County deputies used a drone to locate a vehicle with Cardona and Caraballo inside. That led to Caraballo being shot by her ex and a deputy shooting and killing Cardona.
Friends of Caraballo are raising money for her medical costs.
While Peltier didn’t give specific details about Tuesday’s incident, he did say if officers need to find someone in danger, they can put in a request with cellphone companies to get location information.
“Most people have the find my iPhone apps like that on their devices. They’re tracking their kids and it’s similar to that.”
Peltier says location information is easier to track if a person’s cellphone is on. Cellphone companies can use cell towers to help narrow down a person’s location.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled generally law enforcement needs a warrant to track cellphones but there are exceptions.
“Their life has to be threatened or they have to be in grave danger. Otherwise the cellphone company will not give us that information,” Peltier said.
NWTC ethics professor Josh Lambert says it’s important for people to pay attention to things like tracking technology.
“We’re trying to figure out the line is between privacy and security and convenience and privacy,” said Josh Lambert.
He also says those who have access to the technology should document how it’s used.
“Whether or not a warrant is needed, whether or not there’s imminent danger, I think it’s still paramount to have a certain level of transparency,” Lambert said.
