https://www.thedrive.com/news/police-tag-fleeing-cars-with-gps-tracking-darts-to-avoid-dangerous-pursuits
Police departments across the country are increasingly tagging fleeing cars with GPS tracking darts, instead of engaging in dangerous chases.
SURELY these cops can be totally trusted to not use this when they see an attractive woman they want to follow around, or a vulnerable minority they want to harass.
I mean, the Japanese police has been doing this for decades with paintball guns. Definitely better than high speed chases.
Oh 100% it's better than high speed chases.
And given the history of basically every police force throughout the United States, guaranteed to be misused and abused as well.
That's a policy problem, not a technology problem. Cops are abusing every tool they're given because they can get away with it, not because of the tool. If you sent them on patrol unarmed and on foot they'd still be going around beating up people with the current oversight regime.
That's the reaction here though.
Not the technology, the lack of oversight. I didn't see any mention of an oversight board or review panel, repercussions for abuse, etc.
Which with any technology, and the clear history of exactly the issues you've noted, is an absolute requirement imo.
Great tech and approach. Guaranteed to be used correctly in some cases, and massively abused in others. Without policy revisions to address those abuses, it's a potentially very frightening technology in police hands.
"... because they can get away with it."
Sounds like it doesn't matter what tech we give them so long as they can get away with it.
Silent, small, and easily hideable gps trackers already exist that would make much more sense to use than this.
This seems harder to abuse than the regular GPS trackers they've had for a long time. The dart probably makes a loud noise when it hits the car and might damage the paint. If they're harassing someone wouldn't they rather quietly stick a tracker to the bottom of a car where it wouldn't be noticed?
Abuse of technology is not the fault of the technology itself. You didn't blame the gun for misuse of guns by the police do you? IMHO, this tech is better than the government having EVERY car GPS tracked
You don't blame the tool, you blame either the individual or the policies. Unfortunately, in US police, the individuals tend to be the failed marine dictator wannabees, who the thanks to lacks policies get a near carte blanche to abuse those tools like there is no tomorrow.
Same goes for gun policies in general, they're so dumb that you have near daily mass shootings there, causing loads of individuals to wonder how this can possibly happen and claim that there is nothing anyone safe god himself can do about the situation.
It illegal to track someone like that without a warrant. Instead, they can use the easily accessible legal privately owned ALPR system to see their habits.
Uhhh it does sound a bit far fetched to think they'll start shooting these darts at random people? I don't think it's a very discreet process. Something that could happen but I don't foresee this becoming a common thing
Article: Police are doing a better job, here's how.
Most of Lemmy: Nuh uh they're gonna use it to abolish the thirteenth amendment and stalk cute girls.
I'm begging you to shut the fuck up. Every whisper of cop news has some dipshit with a comment like this. We get it, you don't like police, go harass Facebook boomers about it.
Yes, because even when police find and take opportunities to do their dangerous job safer than before, we should still have prepubescent dickheads find ways to remind us police bad. Who could ever grow tried of hearing "ACAB" at every mention of police?
I bet the cop who got in a squirtgun fight with some local kids put lemon juice in his gun. Typical.
It’s not bad to be skeptical considering their record. It’s responsible. Yes. It’s good that they are doing something to make things more safe. But yes it’s also good to continue to call attention to the ways this new tech can (and almost certainly will) be abused.
They dug their own hole of skepticism, not us.
I don’t really care if someone’s “tired of hearing ACAB” if people are still losing their lives unjustly to bad cops. Continuing to raise awareness in any little way is better then not being annoying.
Go ahead and be skeptical but there's a difference between being a skeptic and being bias. You're the latter.
It's almost like the police are a group with automatic immunity that have taken advantage of that fact time and time again. Specifically when it comes to killing people: regardless of the circumstances they're in.
Man oh man, I wonder why anyone would have a bias against such a group?
Man oh man it's almost like I refuse to acknowledge someone's opinion especially when they admit to having an inclination that inhibits impartial judgment stemming from prejudice.
Man oh man.
Nuh uh they’re gonna use it to abolish the thirteenth amendment and stalk cute girls.
It absolutely is an improvement. They absolutely will abuse it. Both can be true.
I’m begging you to shut the fuck up.
No U!
Right? This tech is way more targeted so I doubt it would be used for mass surveillance.
I'm sick of it too. As someone who generally avoids police, the amount of angsty anti-police propaganda on Lemmy is ridiculous.
Anyone start a pool on when the first news story of abusing this tech will happen? Because I want in lol.
Maybe I should have voted on a police officer beating his wife with one? That was it'll take a little longer....!?
A tracking dart‽ Would be way more sporting to tag and track her with the police helicopter
It's not as bad as what they currently do, but it's trivial to foresee the abuses of this technology.
I'm my county a high percentage of cars have GPS trackers fitted already - by the owner - because of the high vehicle theft rate.
I imagine if that police here just have to call up the tracking company to achieve the same result - something to think about actually (I don't have one, my car isn't worth much)
I think if you're in a car chase type situation, firing a dart is probably quicker than accessing someone else's database
The problem in the US is that the cars are stolen and just get ditched immediately after any interaction with the cops. This helps them find the car, not catch the criminals. Obviously high speed pursuits are even worse, but this doesn't really solve the problem.
What they really need are payloads which can electronically fingerprint the occupant's phones and smart watches and shit.