In October 2001, the City of Ontario, Calif., police department bought two-way pagers for members of its SWAT team. The idea was that the pagers would help officers coordinate their response to emergencies. Based on the understanding that use of the pagers would be incidental, the department arranged a wireless plan that covered a limited number of messages each month.
Soon, Sgt. Jeff Quon and others in the department exceeded their monthly allotment. Quon’s superior, Lt. Steven Duke, told Quon and others who went over the limit that if they reimbursed the city for any overages, their use of the pagers wouldn’t be audited.
