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Comment by whoomp12342 | Hacker News Reader

what if the tracker scratches/dents/damages your car? How does the GPS unit adhere? does that leave a residue? Are they going to pay for that??

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This is an alternative to the PIT maneuver or spike strips, which are all much more destructive. Generally speaking, police are legally permitted to use force to compel compliance.

I think the problem is that it will likely be viewed as less destructive and used in cases where they would not have does a pit maneuver.

Like a taser, in theory it is great to have a LESS lethal option than a gun, but if it is used in cases where they never would have used a gun, you might argue it was a net loss. Arguably, police should probably not use a taser if they do not feel threatened. But on the flipside if they feel threatened, they absolutely should be shooting them with real bullets, so the taser certainty has cost police officers their lives when they thought it would be a good enough deterrent and it turned out not to be.

Also, you can only have so much gear.

> Are they going to pay for that??

No, when the cops damage your property, you're free to pay a lawyer to tell you that you'll lose in court.

So true. Like the time the literally ripped my buddy's front door off it's hinges, and pointed a gun at his small child, only to find they were in the wrong apartment. Zero recourse, in what you'd think would be a slam dunk. At least the apartment complex didn't charge him for the damages.

I'm assuming if you're not actively trying to get pursued by a law enforcement official this isn't a problem.

I might be wrong, but it's my impression people can get their doors kicked in and their computers seized, returned 6 months later with hard drives wiped. No recourse, or very slow and painful.

And your money stolen without being returned

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165822372/afroman-police-rai...

horse shit! LEO can miss and hit someone elses car.

Also, just because you are being pursued doesnt mean you are guilty of a crime.

Cops can be creeps.

If the tracker hits your car you'll probably be guilty of stealing[1] law enforcement property.

[1]https://futurism.com/cops-charge-man-stealing-gps-tracker

No, you wouldn't, because theft requires mens rea.

Good luck at your upcoming criminal jury trial.

I guess I'll hire Heuring's lawyers instead of a public defender, because he was the intended target of his GPS tracker, and he ultimately beat the theft charges and the entire search warrant.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/02/removing-a-gps-t...

Keep in mind that this is the country where people have been charged with destruction of property for bleeding on police uniforms while being beaten. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-day-ferguson-cops-were-cau...

And those charges were dropped -- they weren't found guilty.

Anybody can be charged with anything. It does not mean they will be convicted.

Oh, okay, good thing that being charged and not convicted has no adverse impacts in this country.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/15/atlanta-jail...

This is basically a NERF gun. In the vanishingly unlikely event that you need to, you can file a claim for damage to your vehicle.

It's not a bullet. It's a nerf dart and only flies about 35 feet. If you are close enough to get hit by one of these, you're already in a fucking dangerous situation and should probably not just drive home like nothing happened. Also if they wanted to track you, they already can, and this really doesn't help them in any particular way. Hidden GPS devices have been around for years now.

because its not possible for two people to have a grey honda accord heading southbound on I61

It's a problem for everyone because police make mistakes pretty frequently. All that it requires is them mistaking you for a suspect or following the wrong car, going to the wrong house, etc. Every technology should be considered in how it can be misused, instead of assuming everyone that uses it will be honest and infallible.

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