Digital Photos and Wireless Internet weren't enough to bring conviction
posted May 16, 2007
On Tuesday Hamilton County Judge David Bales dismissed charges against Thomas A. Burke, cited for illegally killing two turkeys recently. State law says turkeys hunters are only allowed one gobbler per day.
Burke was observed by a concerned landowner who heard the gunshots near his home. The man took digital photographs of Burke (see below) that he immediately e-mailed to Hamilton County Wildlife Officer Matt Majors.
Majors said without such quick action and the wireless Internet technology he uses in his state vehicle, it would have been nearly impossible to make the case.
However in court Burke told Judge Bales that he didn't realize it was illegal to kill two turkey gobblers on the same day. However Burke had asked one of his friends to check one of the birds for him in at a big game checking station. Judge Bales dismissed the case, with a stern warning, in spite of the evidence.
Following the citation, Majors provided the following report to his supervisors:
This case was made because of two reasons. First, we got a great report from a very concerned citizen who recognized a wildlife violation. Second and most importantly... the utilization of the technology that TWRA has provided us was paramount in apprehending this man who violated several big game laws.
While on patrol taking care of some routine tasks, I received a message from Crossville dispatch to call a man who stated he witnessed a wildlife violation. I contacted him and he told me he heard a hunter shoot 2 times behind his residence. He went to see if the hunter was trespassing and took his digital camera. He saw a hunter coming out of the woods with 2 bearded turkeys. He took pictures of the hunter, his two turkeys, his truck and tag number, and various other shots that proved vital to the case.
The suspect dragging two turkeys...
The suspect's truck... these are two of several digital photographs a concerned citizen took and quickly e-mailed to Officer Majors who was able to access them via wireless Internet in his truck and immediately follow up on the investigation.
He told me it happened about 20 minutes prior to me calling him. I asked him to email me the pictures to my state email account. He did so immediately.
Once I received these pictures, I ran the tag through Crossville dispatch and found he lived close by. I utilized my state-issued laptop computer and wireless internet card installed in my truck to access the internet. I was able to retrieve the pictures in route to this suspect's home so I would have a number of pictures as to identify a potential suspect in this case. I was also able to check the suspect's license status through the REAL system and turkey harvest records.
Officer Majors saw blood in the bed of the suspect's truck parked in his driveway.
As I arrived at the home the truck was registered at, I immediately identified the truck in the driveway as the truck in the pictures I had received from the informant. After no answer at the front door, I proceeded to the back door. In the back yard was the suspect, cleaning two turkeys as I arrived.
Officer Majors found two gobbler beards in the subject's back yard.
He made a complete confession and admitted to having a friend check the second turkey in, which lead to other big game violations. Five total violations in two counties.
I may have not made these cases without the aid of my laptop in my vehicle, wireless connectivity, and access to the REAL system. The uses of technology in the field of wildlife law-enforcement is only limited to the officer's imagination... and with continued support from TWRA's staff and IT department in this computer project, the sportsmen of Tennessee will benefit!
Thanks,
Matt Majors
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