The Executive Board and 7,000 members of the California Narcotic
Officers’ Association are deeply concerned over the long term ramifications which
would result from the passage H.R.850 "The Security of Freedom through Encryption
Act."
We believe that the greatest threat to this nation since the cold war is the trafficking
of narcotics and dangerous drugs, drug-related crime and the resulting disease of
addiction. The thousands of young people who are dying every year and the hundreds of
thousands of hospital room admissions associated with illicit drug use serve as vivid
examples of this damage. Experts estimate that the economic loss to the United States as a
result of drug abuse reaches $50 billion annually.
As narcotic enforcement experts, we know that virtually all drug trafficking is controlled
by powerful drug Mafia’s operating from headquarters located outside the United
States. These drug trafficking organizations earn billions of dollars selling their poison
to the youth of America. Because of their enormous wealth, these drug kingpins purchase
and use the most advanced technology to avoid detection and to further their illicit
activities. It has become increasingly common for these drug lords to purchase
sophisticated encryption systems for use by their command and control structure. They know
that the use of this technology will reduce law enforcement’s ability to make
arrests, seize drugs and otherwise disrupt their drug trafficking activities.
While CNOA understands the importance of protecting the privacy of individuals and
organizations and of protecting electronic commerce, Congress must ensure that law
enforcement retains its ability to conduct effective investigations of drug trafficking
organizations within the existing Constitutional parameters.
|
 |
If law enforcement loses its ability, through encryption technology, to
conduct court authorized monitoring of communications by drug trafficking organizations,
we will have created safe havens from which the drug lords can operate.
Throughout the debate on encryption legislation, law enforcement has stressed the need for
provisions requiring that technology developed and/or sold in the United States have the
capability of allowing law enforcement the ability to gain timely and complete access to
encrypted communications.
It is CNOA’s belief that if highly sophisticated encryption is sold without providing
for law enforcement access, it will end our ability to perform electronic surveillance. If
law enforcement is denied court ordered access to encrypted communications and information
stored on computers, sophisticated criminal organizations will be able to operate their
business of selling death and destruction in relative safety. This will pose a significant
threat to our nation’s security and to the safety of all Americans. It will severely
weaken the ability of law enforcement to combat society’s most dangerous criminals.
This nation’s most valuable asset, its young people, will suffer the greatest risk.
The California Narcotic Officers’ Association joins with the International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Narcotic Officers Association’s
Coalition (NNOAC) and many other law enforcement groups in encouraging the Congress to
ensure that all legislation regulating encryption contains provisions to allow law
enforcement to have immediate and complete court authorized access to encrypted
information on communications that are being used in the furtherance of criminal activity.
|
