Tag: wisconsin

How To Use GPS Real Time Tracking Effectively

Here is a quick little story ripped from the headlines about the effective use of GPS real time tracking:

According to reports coming out of Boston, police recently made use of GPS real time tracking system to seize 360 pounds of marijuana and to make 3 arrests.

Upon executing a search warrant at a certain location, the police found a crate containing the illegal substance. After a brief field test that verified the contents of the crate, they were then able to get a second search warrant that allowed them to place a special GPS real time tracking device that allowed them to follow the crate to a new location.

The three suspects in the case were also observed trying to move the crate by loading it into a van. It was at this time that DEA agents made a move and captured them.

According to DEA estimates, the 360 pounds of marijuana would have had a street value of around $700,000.

There are a few different interesting aspects of this example that I thought were worthy of note. The first is that the police obtained a warrant to install the real time tracking device inside the crate. We have seen in two different cases where the use of GPS tracking has come under direct attack in the court system. Earlier this year, a Wisconsin court ruled that warrantless GPS tracking is legal. Then a few months later, a New York court ruled that warrantedless GPS tracking is illegal. It is no wonder that the police in this case wanted to play it safe and get a warrant before installing any GPS device.

It is also rather interesting the speed with which the police were able to get a warrant. I don’t have a time line sitting in front of me, but it sure sounds like the police were able to get what they needed in just an hour or so after discovering the illegal drugs. That is pretty fast, but is probably related to the fact that they verified that the substance in question was actually something that is illegal to posses.

The second important thing is the the police actually chose a GPS real time tracking system for this particular situation. When you want to track something that you want to take action on, like a fleet vehicle or a teen driver or a distressed spouse, then you need to have some real time information in order to take action on. Sometimes data logging GPS trackers will simply not cut it and you need something that is going to give you on demand information. The police realized this in this situation and choose an appropriate tracker. Are you doing the same for your tracking needs?

The third and final interesting thing is that the police let the criminals engage in enough activity to sufficiently incriminate themselves before swooping in for the arrest. If you are being tracked by the police with GPS then the last thing in the world you should be doing is committing a crime, but because the police were covert about they were able to install the device and catch the criminals read handed. This is important for those of use who will want to do some covert GPS vehicle tracking ourselves. Are we being wise about our device placement? Are we making sure we are in a position to take action on our real time data?

It can be a very fruitful exercise to examine the effective use of GPS tracking devices. It will help our minds better understand all of the useful applications of the great technology and examine our own practices. When we examine how we make use of GPS technology against these real life examples we are better able to see our own shortcomings and see areas for improvement. If we are using GPS real time tracking, do you think you can see any ways to improve your own use of this powerful technology?

GPS Car Tracking, GPS Blockers, and Stalkers

There is more news coming out of Wisconsin related to the world of GPS tracking.  A La Crosse man was convicted of stalking his estranged wife with a GPS tracking device installed in her car.  Apparently, the man was just keeping tabs on her because of some custody issues that they were working out.  If a police complaint about the convict is true, he used the GPS device to track his wife as far as Iowa, harassing his her with his presence.

He entered an Alford plea to the charge, which means he thinks he is ‘Not Guilty’ but still thinks a jury will convict him, and will suffer two years of probation and six months of local confinement – meaning that the person who once used GPS tracking to stalk will now have his location tracked with GPS.  How ironic.

But this particular case is not of necessarily of interest because of this irony but because of two other things that have happened in the past couple of  months.  The first is that police in Wisconsin can GPS track cars without warrants according to a Wisconsin VI District Court of Appeals decision issued in March of 2009.  This means that police can place a tracking device on any person’s vehicle that they feel like could be a suspect in a case without any warrant.  If they thought that you were somehow a part of the mafia they could place one in your vehicle without you knowing and expect you to like it.

What makes this interesting is that apparently this same ability doesn’t transfer over to private citizens, or at least private citizens with restraining orders on them.  This is great news for all of us that might fear a neighbour or complete stranger might be stalking us and be well within their rights.  Apparently, only the police can stalk people without getting in trouble with the police …

But this leads to a related thing that is kind of interesting about this whole story – that GPS tracking blockers can be pretty useful devices.  If you are having someone stalking you with a real-time tracking device installed in your car then there is no better way of getting them off your back than installing one of these devices (Update 4/16/2012:  GPS jammers are illegal and should not be used).  This isn’t something that most people are going to need and certainly isn’t something I would recommend having just in case – but if you are being harassed or stalked by someone with even the littlest bit of technical knowhow or if they seem to be showing up in places they shouldn’t know about then getting a GPS tracking blocker may be a good, safe thing to do.

The other thing that made this particularly interesting is just how widely available GPS tracking is.  Even a stalkers in Wisconsin can get their hands on it.  Just a few years ago GPS navigation units were over $500 – well outside the range of most people both then and now.  Today, however, you can make your own real-time tracking device for $40 upfront and a $30 monthly fee with a cell phone and some free GPS tracking software.  These types of tracking devices are very easy to set up and take very little skill to do.

But even without cheating and using a cell phone, some covert GPS tracking devices are fairly reasonably priced these days.  An effective real-time tracking device can be purchased for well under $200, with some GPS loggers coming in at under $100.  A GPS logger isn’t going to need a monthly subscription either, making it very easy to purchase and use extensively (but probably not by a stalker – so you are probably going to be good).

GPS is just going to become more prevelant as the years roll on and we are going to have to deal with GPS tracking on a much higher level than ever before.  I can forsee in the future a time when letting someone GPS track your location is a sign that you are in a serious relationship with them, much like giving them acess to your email account might be today.  Teens will track their boyfriends and girlfriends for the one day that they are a couple, only having to find a way to cleanly break such intimate knowledge.  This may seem funny now, but in five years I really think that this is going to be a reality.

It may seem a little scary, but GPS tracking is going to be the norm rather than the exception.

Wisconsin Allows Warrantless GPS Tracking of Cars

In a decision filed on Mar 7, 2009, the Wisconsin VI District Court of Appeals made a ruling that has interesting implications for GPS tracking’s place in society and law enforcement.  In the case in question, State of Wisconsin v. Michael A. Sveum, the defendant (Michael Sveum) was arguing that the GPS tracking device installed on his car by the police was in violation of his 4th Amendment right of protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.  The police claim that they did not violate Sveum’s 4th Amendment rights.

The crux of the issue here is summarized nicely by the court in their written decision, authored by Judge Paul Lundsten:

Michael Sveum challenges his aggravated stalking conviction. At Sveum’s jury trial, the prosecution presented detailed tracking information about the movements of Sveum’s car obtained from a Global Positioning System tracking device (GPS device) that police secretly attached to his car. Sveum argues that the police obtained this tracking information in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The State responds that no Fourth Amendment search or seizure occurs when police attach a GPS device to the outside of a vehicle while it is in a place accessible to the public and then use that device to track the vehicle while it is in public view.  We agree with the State.

The court’s decision has some interesting implications.  What the court essentially did in ruling in favor of the state in this appeal is open up the public to warrantless GPS tracking of a suspects car, truck, or van.

This has caused a lot of buzz, with fear mongers taking up the call of state oppression and fears that their rights of privacy are being violated unduly.  I think a lot of this talk is not constructive and does little to actaully help protect citizen’s privacy from unreasonable searches and seizures.

When you sit down and think about it logically, the court’s decision makes a lot of sense.  GPS tracking is a lot like physical surveillance, except that you don’t have to spend tax payer’s money on sitting a person outside a suspects home for hours on end.  According to one news report, the GPS tracking for cars was used for 5 weeks to monitor Sveum’s activity. How much would it have cost to put a tail on a suspect day and night, 7 days a week, for five weeks?  A lot of money.

After the 5 weeks of tracking was up, the device was retrieved from the car and then processed by police.  The location information that they uncovered helped them get a warrant to search Sveum’s car and home, the resulting evidence discovered was enough for a jury to convict the defendant of aggravated stalking.

If you think about it, the information gathered from the GPS tracking device installed on the car was exactly the same as that that could be gathered from physical observation.  Cars travel in public places and can be easily view by authorities with a desire to do so.  Such tailing is not a violation of a person’s 4th Amendment right and so the court reasoned that the GPS tracking was permissible.

It also reasoned that since tailing a suspect can be done without a warrant (since their activity is within the public sphere) then the GPS tracking of a car can also be done without a warrant.

Now in the Sveum case there was a warrant that let the police use the GPS tracking device, but the language of the court’s ruling indicated that this warrant was unnecessary.  Again, the language of the court:

Sveum challenges the admission of GPS tracking information showing the movements of his car. He argues that the warrant authorizing police to place the GPS device on his car was overly broad. The State responds that the warrant was unnecessary because no Fourth Amendment search or seizure occurred. In reply, Sveum implicitly concedes that placing the GPS device on his car and using it to monitor public travel does not implicate the Fourth Amendment. He contends, however, that because the GPS device permitted the police to monitor the location of his car while it was in his garage and in his employer’s garage, places out of public view, all of the information obtained from the GPS device should have been suppressed. Because we agree with the State that no Fourth Amendment search or seizure occurred, we do not address Sveum’s warrant argument.

Clear as crystal – the police, at least in Wisconsin, do not need to have a search warrant to place a GPS tracking device on your car.  They can do it for any reason and for presumably any purpose – as long as their resources allow it.

If you want to read the full text of the court’s decision you can do so here: State v. Michael A. Sveum

Update: May 20, 2009

According to the New York Court of Appeals, police inside New York must have a warrant when when using GPS tracking on a suspects car.  This is directly opposite of what the Wisconsin court ruled just a few weeks ago.  This difference in ruling highlights some of the current issues with the use of new technology in ever expanding areas of life.  Readers old enough to remember the stir that wire tapping raised when it was first introduced will see some similarities between that and GPS tracking.  If you want to learn more about this case and their ruling,check out our post New York Requires Warrant To GPS Track Suspects

Do you think that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Wisconsin’s ability to freely use GPS tracking on individuals?  Why or why not?