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16th Street Church Bombing — Part 27

101 pages · May 08, 2026 · Document date: Sep 16, 1963 · Broad topic: Terrorism · Topic: 16th Street Church Bombing · 98 pages OCR'd
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er on eae As fof titrant federal wiretap jlaws, there are as many inter- pretations as there are courts ition and has failed to pass in the;ficult, most telephone bugging two years it has been pending.idevices can be detected. Ec Lingo said titerewheno spe- cial equipment for revealing the presence of a bug, but fand judges. Some judges hold) added the devices can and oft- jwiretapping a crime in itself,en do betray themselves. jwhile others hold it legal only) 3, aii the three cases here in iif ate intercepted messages are Alabama, the bugs malfune- ott tioned and caused trouble on the], A Oo ~ oe telephone lines. In Miss Poole's} ALABAMA, LIKE 32 otherloase, there was a buzzing on the |states, has. laws making wire-}); | tapping a crime punishable by. tine “vale her a number had: eavy fines and jail sentences. - ae Under Title 48, Sections 415 and yohe two pugs installed in Bir-’: 416, of the Alabama Code, wire-[Insnam nomes Cause other, ‘|tappi i tions to “leak” through. tapping or interferring with|COMVeTsa telephone communication is al! other words, the user of the misdemeanor punishable by a bugged phone, could hear other 43500 fine ‘or six months in jail, ‘Jor both. . da : |tions. Eleven states have no laws ae , we Sometimes, a malfunctioning at all governing wiretappin . . : recorded telephone vers .|bug will cause interrupted dial- tions. Six states permit wire-|P& or other oddities in the! tapping — but confine its legal phone’s operation. use mainly to law enforcement. A PERSON WHO suspects his The threat to privacy is by! phone has been tapped can easi- no means limited to monitored ly relieve his mind by asking phone conversations. the telephone company to check A child can order through jhis line. If the repairman finds ihe mail a $15 device which ja “voltage drop” on the line, it magnifies sound and can pick lis almost certain the phone’ is up a conversation in a room |being tapped somehow, across the street. All bugs aren't detectable how- For $17.90, anyone can -havelever, For example anyone can an instrument which “taps” ajbe recorded by the person on the telephone without touching afother end of the line without de- wire, tection. oe For $150, a budding spy can| Anyone suspecting his con- buy a television camera which| versation is being recorded, \can scan a room in complete] can foul the recording by sim- ecrecy and transmit pictures,| ply tapping the mouthplece of . ‘with sound, to a hidden receiv-| ‘the phone with a pencil er oth- er several blocks away. - er objects during the conver- : sation. The noise will magnify and blot out parts of the con- wrirle fh cy PRIVATE DETECTIVES con- ceal microphones, some with! versation. - : built-in transmitters, in hat-| Similar results can be ob- bands, wrist watches or tie/tained by other noises in the clasps. Microphones, no largerjroom, such as’ music, a loud fhan a button, feeds conversa-|television or even running wa- tions to a recorder concealed on|ter. Devices for recording tele- the detective’s person, then re-|phone conversations are ex- days it to a receiver several;tremely sensitive and will mag- blocks away. nify the slightest noise, Tiny transmitters can be in- , Stalled in rooms, offices and) ABOVE ALL, Col. Lingo even automobiles. They are pow-'warned, make sure the mani. erful enough to send conversa-;who comes to check for ter-|- tions severa] blocks to several/mites or to check your phone is|- miles. te who he says he is — ask for _ Even executives have reached/credentials. If he has none, the point where they fidget if aicheck with his office. Don’t let visitor evenagtmuch as sets alunidentified people in your briefcase or purse near them. /home. . : Although it is extremely dif-' There was a time when secret 19 people talking while they tried. . . 1 to carry on their own conversa-;__ ROW RO oreo Som yee meee: epee 9 . * e ‘Bugs’ in Birmingham home This tiny transmitter (top photo) was found at- tached to the telephone wire in the home of a pri- vate citizen in Birmingham. The miniature device 1s ures about 214 by 1 inches. It. is tuned to a certain ' frequency and is capable of transmitting both ends _of a telephone conversation several blocks. Photo be- low shows how the transmitter was installed in the Birmingham home. Someone entered the basement with-apass key, connected the device, then-cencerled it with insulation. This particular bug -cost between J 1 transistorized, has its own power supply and meas- | $150 and $250. — information was fiiched with the eof liquor, women an 1 eption — that time is a ‘ far mo} r S sti} Today. it’s done ierifically and forms a {) ealer threat to freedom of pri- acy than ever before, - ee
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