Baltimore Police cellphone search warrants on hold, as law enforcement agencies seek to adhere to Maryland high court’s consequential ruling

Baltimore Police have stopped extracting data from cellphones, a powerful investigative tool, while the department evaluates how to ensure its search warrants meet the requirements of a consequential opinion rendered this week by Maryland’s highest court. The Court of Appeals’ ruling on Monday mandates police in Maryland be more specific when applying for warrants to search people’s cellphones and recommends law enforcement agencies adopt protocols to pull data from the devices under more narrow parameters.