Hacker News Reader

Comment by ceejayoz | Hacker News Reader

OnStar already does this, I believe. I recall seeing an article about disabling cars using microwaves, as well.

I'm not sure how much I care considering the cops already have the power to make me stop, with force if desired.

  > I'm not sure how much I care considering the cops 
  > already have the power to make me stop, with force 
  > if desired.

You should probably care quite a bit. Sure, cops can already make you stop with force, but this requires effort and coordination on their part. A remote disabling system is virtually-effortless.

History has shown that these "conveniences" are abused. Wiretaps were originally pitched as "extreme cases" techniques. Stun guns were pitched as a non err less than lethal weapon for use in cases where deadly force would be required. Now stun guns are routinely used on non-violent people.

This will be misused by law enforcement. This will not be solely used to catch criminals. It will be used against dissidents and activists. It's illogical to think any other way.

On the other hand, high speed chases are expensive, risky, and very dangerous to everyone (not just the suspect, and not just the cops).

That's why cops typically don't engage in high speed chases (at least in the US, unsure about the UK) and instead rely on aerial surveillance (eg. police helicopters) to track the criminal.

It's similar in the UK. Rules change from time to time and sometimes policies have varied between the different regional police forces, but the last time I talked to police friends it seemed like everything was going the same way: only specialist officers would be permitted to engage in high speed pursuit, and even then they would be subject to direction from a control room where someone not tied up in the situation around them could order everyone to abandon the pursuit on safety grounds. Basically, the risk of not bringing the vehicle being chased to a halt as fast as possible would have to outweigh the risk of the pursuit, which it almost never does once you get to crazy speeds.

Cops already have that power, yes. But random assholes on the internet didn't have that power, until now. That's the problem with this sort of bound-to-be-insecure remote shut-off technology (trolls or criminal abuse).

Anytime police have to use force they expose themselves to risk. This acts as a natural deterrent to some abuses that would otherwise happen. Chasing a speeding vehicle, pulling a large man out of the car, and subduing him is much more difficult than pressing a button and waiting for a dozen more police to arrive before surrounding him.

The point is that, with force, police have to be sure that the suspect is worth it before they act, as even the possibility of this happening has to be considered.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com