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Lubossa
Old Face NewName
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Police catching criminals using GPS?
#8791204 - 08/18/08 02:09 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's the stuff crime movies are made of: Determined police officers shadowing their suspect as he drives around town, watching and waiting for his next move, always careful not to lose him. David Lee Foltz Jr. faces trial on abduction and sexual battery charges after police tracked him using GPS.
David Lee Foltz Jr. faces trial on abduction and sexual battery charges after police tracked him using GPS.
But now, investigators can track a potential bad guy without ever leaving their desks, thanks to the Global Positioning System, or GPS.
The technology is easy to use and the devices are hard to detect.
All police have to do is attach a GPS receiver to a suspect's car and they easily go along for the ride online, tracking the individual's exact location in real time from their computer.
"I think it's a good use of resources. It doesn't put any officers in danger, which is a good thing," said Mike Brooks, a CNN security enforcement analyst and a former Washington police detective.
"You can sit at a computer and find exactly where [a suspect] goes."
But because investigators often track without a warrant, privacy advocates say the tactic threatens to monitor innocent people as well.Video Watch the debate over police using GPS »
"Law enforcement has a legitimate right to try to solve crimes and track suspects, provided that there are protections so that the innocent are not improperly snooped upon," said Norman Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Don't Miss
* GPS devices keep tabs on stalkers, battering spouses
He wondered how many people would be comfortable knowing that police could attach something to their car and be able track their whereabouts 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.
A recent case illustrates how investigators use the technology.
Court documents show Fairfax County, Virginia, police followed David Lee Foltz Jr. without a warrant in February by placing a GPS device inside the bumper of his van. See how GPS works »
Police began watching Foltz, who had previously been convicted of rape, after 11 attacks on women in the area where he lived, The Washington Post reported.
Foltz is facing trial, charged with abduction and sexual battery. He is charged in connection with an attack that happened after the monitoring began, according to the Post.
The attacks stopped after his arrest in February, the newspaper reported.
Foltz's attorney tried to get the GPS evidence thrown out of court. Chris Leibig wouldn't discuss the case with CNN, but said the tracking constituted illegal search and seizure, a violation his client's Fourth Amendment right.
"Our main point with this is that before installing a GPS tracking device secretly on someone's vehicle, a judicial officer should make the decision about how much evidence is good enough, how long the tracking can be for, and the parameters of the tracking," Leibig said.
"I want to point out it's very easy to get a warrant if the police have a good reason, it doesn't take a long time, and if there is a real reason, the warrant will be granted."
Leibig described GPS tracking as more intrusive than just an investigator following someone down the street.
"It's a lot more like a police officer tagging along inside your car, an invisible police officer inside your car," Leibig said.
Despite Leibig's motion to suppress, a judge has allowed the evidence to be used at Foltz's trial this October, The Washington Post reported.
Police involved in the case would only say there is an internal review before GPS tracking can be used. Many privacy advocates say that's not enough.
The Supreme Court has yet to address GPS tracking without warrants, so the legal standards vary from state to state. Most allow it or haven't ruled on it. Courts in Washington and Oregon, however, have ruled police need a warrant before using GPS. advertisement
"It's a wonderful tool for law enforcement," Reimer said.
"The question always comes down to how much are we willing to give up in freedom and privacy for how much marginal increase in our security."
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NobodyImportant
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: Lubossa]
#8791238 - 08/18/08 02:19 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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glad I park in a garage
I may have to get one of those little mirrors they look for bombs with if I start dealing again though
Edited by NobodyImportant (08/18/08 02:19 PM)
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Lubossa
Old Face NewName
Registered: 03/04/08
Posts: 90
Loc: OZ
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: Lubossa]
#8791239 - 08/18/08 02:19 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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just a matter of time until they use it to bust the balls of the drug culture.
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badchad
Mad Scientist
Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,377
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: Lubossa]
#8791535 - 08/18/08 03:24 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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I'd be more concerned about positioning via cell phone.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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Lubossa
Old Face NewName
Registered: 03/04/08
Posts: 90
Loc: OZ
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: badchad]
#8791605 - 08/18/08 03:39 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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then get a go phone or trac phone register it under a false name.. use that and only that for deals... and change your number every-month..
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: Lubossa]
#8791736 - 08/18/08 04:13 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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Just to recap the chain of events here;
The police suspect a convicted rapist of 11 attacks on women in his neighborhood.
Rather than do police work e.g. gather forensic evidence, do a lineup, interview witnesses, have a stakeout to follow him, etc., they decide to put a woman, any woman, in harms way and wait for him to attack again. They install a gps and go back to their desks.
This is done because "it's a good use of resources. It doesn't put any officers in danger".
The suspect is now charged with abduction and sexual battery after a woman was attacked. She could have been killed. I can see possible uses for gps, but in this case, taking the lazy way out and waiting for another victim is totally irresponsible.
Instead of the police being praised for capturing a sexual predator, the public should be outraged and the police held liable for this woman's attack.
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Lubossa
Old Face NewName
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: veggie]
#8791790 - 08/18/08 04:29 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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very good observation... in fact they should have GPS on sex offenders.. it might not put officers in danger but it sure does put the public in harms way
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Nature Boy
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Registered: 07/09/07
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: veggie]
#8791804 - 08/18/08 04:35 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said: Just to recap the chain of events here;
The police suspect a convicted rapist of 11 attacks on women in his neighborhood.
Rather than do police work e.g. gather forensic evidence, do a lineup, interview witnesses, have a stakeout to follow him, etc., they decide to put a woman, any woman, in harms way and wait for him to attack again. They install a gps and go back to their desks.
This is done because "it's a good use of resources. It doesn't put any officers in danger".
The suspect is now charged with abduction and sexual battery after a woman was attacked. She could have been killed. I can see possible uses for gps, but in this case, taking the lazy way out and waiting for another victim is totally irresponsible.
Instead of the police being praised for capturing a sexual predator, the public should be outraged and the police held liable for this woman's attack.
I couldn't agree more. This is absolutely frightening and shameful. They had a known suspect, failed to perform requisite surveillance, and an innocent victim was assaulted?!
What concern should a male cop have from a sex offender of women???? Harms way! BAH!!! All this amounts to is justification for being lazy, donut stuffed, coffee guzzling, third-rate "public servants."
N.B.
-------------------- All submitted posts under this user name are works of pure fiction or outright lies. Any information, statement, or assertion contained therein should be considered pure unadulterated bullshit. Note well: Sorry, but I do not answer PM's unless you are a long-time trusted friend. If you have a question, ask it in the appropriate thread.
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Prisoner#1
Even Dumber ThanAdvertized!
Registered: 01/22/03
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: veggie]
#8792491 - 08/18/08 07:49 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said: Rather than do police work e.g. gather forensic evidence, do a lineup, interview witnesses, have a stakeout to follow him, etc., they decide to put a woman, any woman, in harms way
the funny thing about it is it doesnt do anything more than place you in a spot at a specific time, lets assume that they tagged your car, you drive to your friends house to pick up some weed, 20 minutes after you leave someone kicks in the door, robs and kills him but because you were tagged as a suspect in an unrelated crime, 'forensic' examination of the body has you at his place at the time this killing took place so now you're suspect#1 and they're not even bothering to search for the real killer...
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Cannabischarlie
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Re: Police catching criminals using GPS? [Re: Prisoner#1]
#8792711 - 08/18/08 08:47 PM (15 years, 7 months ago) |
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police are pretty incompetent in general
they never investigate things properly
-------------------- This section of the signature line has been intentionally left blank. we could all use a little more sunshine. yeah, she's funny and somewhat interesting. not a beauty queen, but not bad lookin. i'd feel quite honored to fuck janine garofalo. -tiny_rabid_birds
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