AboutKitt Montague Expertise Fan since 1995; have seen every show from the start to the end; co-edit a Law & Order `zine, apocrypha; freelance entertainment writer. My interest propels my knowledge, so I`m pretty well versed in all things Law & Order!
Question LUDs = Local Usage Details sounds like it might be correct, but I think that Line Usage Details is more accurate.
At one time I worked for the telephone company (NYNEX, which shows you how far back it was) modifying a system which stored just those records for "at least 600 days" (the New York State Public Utilities Commission requirement) - in practice, forever: it was cheaper to buy more tapes and warehouse space than to recycle the tapes after a mere 600 days). The basic data was obtained from the originating "switch", and had the additional data from the further switches (called "tandems") merged in with it, as far as NYNEX was able: when the call was handed off to another carrier (MCI, for example, or ATT, or whomever...) that was noted. I was involved in updating the system so that ALL the records from ALL the carriers had the same layout, codes, etc., so that, if required, the data from each carrier could be merged together seamlessly to allow a call to be tracked from start to finish and end to end for presentation to (for example) a jury "of ones peers".
It should be obvious to anyone and everyone, upon thinking about it, that such records exist: after all, they bill you for "long distance" calls, don't they?
That such records are retained for long periods of time can be inferred from the fact that the various state PUC's can, and do, order refunds of moneys when a telco has been determined to have incorrectly charged customers.
Answer There isn't actually a question here, but for the record: Yeah, I'm gonna stick with "Local Usage Details."
I appear to be backed up not just from what cops and show writers have told me, but all over the Internet:
Whereas when I google for "line usage data," I get few hits and nothing that seems relevant to the subject at hand.
I think with your knowledge you may be technically more accurate, but it's hard to know what the origin of the cops' meaning of LUDs is -- perhaps it's just lingo that has been munged over the years.
