Connecticut police chiefs say GPS tracking darts are a safer alternative to chases. But civil liberties groups say they’re an unconstitutional violation of drivers’ privacy.
This is being deployed nationwide. I caught a glimpse on news while meeting with a client.
I’d argue that chases are unnecessary even without these darts.
For the amount of money the police consume, absolutely. Should be any of a dozen alternatives
I wholly agree.
Well, tracking darts would be better than flock cameras that always track everyone. It would require action by the police that they would have to justify, rather than all data being hoovered up and accessed freely.
Yeah… look at what Ford seems to be doing.
https://lemmy.zip/post/63198944
No need for GPS Darts, if the Car won’t start at all because your face is wrong.
Man, I am in the market for a new car, specially an EV. But after checking the offers near me they’re somehow worse than my 30yo Seat Córdoba
Don’t they usually know who the car belong to? How often are they chasing vehicles that do not belong to the driver?
Stolen cars, swapped tags, plain elusion?
I know that can happen but how common is it?
It’s 101.
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Steal someone elses car.
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Commit crimes
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If there was absolute certainty that those darts would only be used on police chases, I’d be all for them. As we all know there isn’t that certainty, I’m not so keen.
I really don’t get the issue. The lawmakers are saying that these may be illegal because a warrant is required before putting a GPS device on a vehicle.
But that’s bogus. Those warrant protections apply for ordinary searches, not for immediate emergency situations. If a cop is walking down the street and hears someone screaming and gunshots from the building they’re walking past, they don’t need to get a warrant before entering it. They can just bust the door down.
These darts aren’t to be used on vehicles as part of ordinary searches. In fact, they’re useless for that, as they doubtlessly make a lot of noise when they hit a vehicle, and they remain prominently visible. This isn’t a covert device that can be used for ordinary searches. Pretty much the only application for these things are active emergency hot pursuits. Those are the exact emergency scenarios that courts have always held provide broad exceptions to search warrant requirements.
