2014 Wiretap Report Finds Slight Decrease in Applications

There was a one percent decrease in the number of federal and state intercepts for wire, oral or electronic communications authorized in 2014 from 2013, said the 2014 Wiretap Report published Wednesday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which is required to report to the figures to Congress each year. The numbers don't include data on interceptions authorized and regulated by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it said. A total 3,554 wiretaps were reported as authorized in 2014, with 1,279 intercepts authorized by federal judges and 2,275 authorized by state judges, it said. Wire surveillance on a telephone, whether by landline, cellular, cordless or mobile, accounted for 93 percent of all applications, it said. The number of wiretaps approved by federal judges decreased by 13 percent in 2014 from 2013 figures, but state judges approved 8 percent more applications, it said. One state wiretap application was denied in 2014, it said. The most state judge requests -- 43 percent -- were authorized in California. The District of Arizona authorized the most federal wiretaps, at 7 percent of all applications, it said.