Posted on 08/17/2008 8:54:24 AM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
Someone was attacking women in Fairfax County and Alexandria, grabbing them from behind and sometimes punching and molesting them before running away. After logging 11 cases in six months, police finally identified a suspect.
David Lee Foltz Jr., who had served 17 years in prison for rape, lived near the crime scenes. To figure out if Foltz was the assailant, police pulled out their secret weapon: They put a Global Positioning System device on Foltz's van, which allowed them to track his movements.
Police said they soon caught Foltz dragging a woman into a wooded area in Falls Church. After his arrest on Feb. 6, the string of assaults suddenly stopped. The break in the case relied largely on a crime-fighting tool they would rather not discuss.
"We don't really want to give any info on how we use it as an investigative tool to help the bad guys," said Officer Shelley Broderick, a Fairfax police spokeswoman. "It is an investigative tool for us, and it is a very new investigative tool."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I'm glad it allowed them to catch this POS, though.
Yeah, I have mixed emotions about this one too...
Sort of like Osama bin Laden driving off a cliff in my new car. (with GPS Satellite Navigation)
We have a corrupt cop in my town and IA hired a PI to put a GPS on his cruiser so they could track him. The cop found the GPS, held a press conference with is attorney and sued the dept. for racial harrasment (he’s black). He’s still on the force and has a multi-million dollar lawsuit pending.
Seems about the same as tapping a phone or surveillance
In the long run I doubt if the courts look at electronic following any different than physical following.
I’ve never believed invasion of privacy is out of bounds unless it occurs on your own property. Even the fourth amendment only says you should be secure in your person and personal effects and to me that says that the police shouldn’t be able to assault you and steal your property. I have no trouble with the state knowing where someone is if they’re under suspicion. The state still has to prove guilt beyond a resonable doubt and grant all legal protections during trial, which is substantial. I don’t care if there are cameras in public places, either. If I’m not doing anything wrong, there is photographic proof that I’m not.
If the POS outright owns the car, I have a problem under the fourth amendment. That said though, if a financial house has ownership in the car (they financed), and authorizes the GPS, no problem!
Two thoughts - the puke was caught about a mile from my house, so I say hang him.
Having said that, why did the cops fail to get a warrant?
I suppose you could program the GPS device to stop sending in areas which are presumptively private, and not otherwise visible to the public. But, when his vehicle is on the streets or in a place where the public is invited, where the police could observe him is they had the manpower and budget to tail (the old fashioned way) him 24x7.
On*Star and his cell phone could provide the same info couldn’t they?
David Lee Foltz Jr., who had served 17 years in prison for rape...
Another successful rehabilitation! All of those criminals mentioned in the article will receive a paltry sentence and be recycled back into the community. These career criminals provide the justification for expanding government powers, and sometimes I think this is by design (though that would be evidence of competence - more likely is that this is the natural progression of the state via gross incompetence).
As a former Sheriffs Deputy we had ROPE teams. Repeat Offender Enforcement.... Career bad guys have bad habits. .....now with GPS which is no less invasive than a wiretap or search warrant that has to be justified to a judge still, such repeat offenders can be watched “better”. Criminals subject themselves to a lifetime of woes when they break the law. They pay their debt to society yet can never lose that record. Trends are used to track all sorts of activity from consumers to terrorists. A criminal record is included in a profile to narrow down who is local and may have revived their old “bad habit” as in this case.
Just the way I observed it .........right or wrong that is what I saw and experienced. No sympathy for criminals....ever.
That's been the view so far. If I were a judge in a lower court, I would spend extra time writing this opinion. It's sure to be reviewed by a higher court.
DISARM RAPISTS
Sounds good to me.
I’d say do whatever it takes to catch these P’sOS. We can’t make everybody happy. I’m sure the libs out there and the aclu will try to find a way to fight this GPS use as soon as they get done springing all these criminals.
Thanks for the insight. I think I’d rather not know what the police really do. It’s probably scary. May be necessary but still scary.
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