What if the Cops put a Tracker on your Car?

[RWebb]

you find it, take it off

and then they charge you with theft....


https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/21/police-hid-tracking-device-suspects-car-then-charged-him-with-theft-removing-it/

[Jims5543]

A smart man would have put it on another random car.

[KFC911]

^^^^ ....a random cop car

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by RWebb

you find it, take it off

and then they charge you with theft....


https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/21/police-hid-tracking-device-suspects-car-then-charged-him-with-theft-removing-it/

Hey, they gave it to you...it’s yours to do with as you wish.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by Zeke

When placed with a warrant, it's not the owner's decision to remove it. If he gets a drug charge they may slap him with evidence tampering.

Disclaimer: I'm not police nor a lawyer.

How does he know it’s been placed legally? I assume it didn’t say that it was Police Property?

I would have thought obstruction of justice would have been the more appropriate charge but neither addresses the issue above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[widgeon13]

"The case dates to July 11, 2018, when deputies in the southwest Indiana county applied for a warrant to track Heuring’s vehicle, believing he was using it to deal methamphetamine. A judge granted permission, and police placed the magnetic tracker on the vehicle July 13."

Article seems to say it was all done legally.

The guy is a POS if he is selling meth!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

A smart man would have put it on another random car.

ding, ding, ding. Have them follow grandpa, a traveling salesman, or better yet, a UPS truck.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Hey, they gave it to you...it’s yours to do with as you wish.

That's my thought. If anyone puts anything on my car and I drive off with it, then they "gave it to me" so it's now mine.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

Article seems to say it was all done legally.

It may be placed legally, but is taking it off illegal?
I can see a lot of possible reasons why not:

You don’t know it was placed by the police
You don’t know if it was placed legally by the police
You didn’t even know what it was
You weren’t the person who removed it

[masraum]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

"The case dates to July 11, 2018, when deputies in the southwest Indiana county applied for a warrant to track Heuring’s vehicle, believing he was using it to deal methamphetamine. A judge granted permission, and police placed the magnetic tracker on the vehicle July 13."

Article seems to say it was all done legally.

The guy is a POS if he is selling meth!

Yes, cops did it legally and by the book, and the guy's a dirtbag that deserves time...

BUT if I find something on my car, I'm taking it off. I have no way to know if it's legit. My hypothetical crazy ex-girlfriend could have bought some crap from China on ebay that says "police property".

Also, just because we know he's a dirtbag doesn't mean that we can throw due process out the window. Then is it OK to plant drugs on him or a gun because know that he's a dirtbag?

The police just knew that the guy at 1000 Kensington Court was a dirtbag and busted in his front door and when he jumped up off the couch with the remote and a spoonful of icecream in his hand, they shot him. Oops, the dirtbag lived at 1000 Kensington Place and watches TV with a gun in his lap.

Originally Posted by RWebb

you find it, take it off

and then they charge you with theft....


https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/21/police-hid-tracking-device-suspects-car-then-charged-him-with-theft-removing-it/

Interesting question, Randy. I wonder, though, why they didn't get a warrant to GPS track his phone? Maybe he used burners or knew enough not to carry it.

I'd be arguing the exact same thing as his lawyer is, since it's a pretty long stretch from a theft warrant to finding the drugs.

[red-beard]

The smart move on his part would have been to remove the tracker and toss is randomly out the window. Then it "fell" off.

But back to the story here. The second warrant for "stealing the tracker" is pretty stupid. I expect this is going to get all of the evidence against him thrown out.

[rusnak]

Boonville Ind. police chief is a idiot, and so is the District Attorney.

1. They are creating case law that protects people from police surveillance. No way is the court going to say that you have an obligation to leave a GPS tracker on your car. They can charge him, but he's going to win that case.

2. Police are letting every perp know their surveillance techniques. This is not something that you want to do, and therefore not worth pursuing the charge.

3. "Theft" will not be proven, and the perp has not even been charged for the actual activity that they obtained the warrant for. I would argue that the warrant did not give the police a right to charge the guy for theft, only for drug dealing. To the taxpaying public, this looks like a Chinese fire drill and sh**show funded lavishly with tax dollars, to the embarrassment of the rest of the police department. That has got to be demoralizing for real cops.


Should have never gotten that far.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Interesting question, Randy. I wonder, though, why they didn't get a warrant to GPS track his phone? Maybe he used burners or knew enough not to carry it.

I'd be arguing the exact same thing as his lawyer is, since it's a pretty long stretch from a theft warrant to finding the drugs.

My guess is they don't have the money, or tech to do real time phone surveillance. Hence gps tracker.

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

My guess is they don't have the money, or tech to do real time phone surveillance. Hence gps tracker.

You're probably right. But . . .That tech is coming right along, though, and will get cheaper and cheaper. Throw in a grid of cameras (plus a few hovering overhead at all times), a little AI, and enough storage and processing capabilities, and you can build a virtual time machine that the authorities can all use--and share across jurisdictional and state/federal boundaries--to track each and every one of us every second of our lives.

Don't worry, though. Be happy . . . and smile--you're on camera. A bad attitude will hurt your Federal Social Value Score.

[KevinP73]

[sc_rufctr]

^^^ Interesting video.

If I found a GPS Tracker on my car I'd be calling a lawyer ASAP.

But I'm not a POS Drug dealer or criminal so...

[sc_rufctr]

I thought this may be be of interest.

It's about a local underworld murder that has been heavily reported on since it happened in 2012.
Phone data and status evidence played a big part in the investigation.

All of the mobile phone were left at the staging house before the event.
Why not leave their phones turned on at home? Burner phones have always been cheap and easy to obtain.
I'm betting these guys aren't very bright.

It seems the police have complete and unrestricted access to mobile phone tower data.
I'm sure the data was obtained legally after an appropriate warrant was granted but...

How long are providers expected to keep this data?

The video is short but has more details.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I think shipping it in a package to South Africa or affixing it to a long-haul, over-the-road big rig might’ve made for some good entertainment... oh well, opportunity lost. I guess drug dealers these days aren’t as humorous as they used to be.

[sc_rufctr]

So if you removed it and they never found it again how could they prove they ever put it on your car in the first place?

I think the law would be in favour of the criminal in this case.