The Wall Street Journal has an article on how local police departments are using the Patriot Act to get warrants to spy on people suspected of common crimes, which they couldn't otherwise get. In this particular case, Phoenix police suspected a Lebanese man of being involved in a formula-stealing ring. They didn't have enough evidence to get a warrant to tap his communications, so they claimed - again with no evidence - that he had connections to al-Qaeda and got a FISA warrant to tap their phone and bug his office. They used the evidence they obtained throught those means to prosecute him on theft charges.