Court Says No Warrant Necessary

GPS Tracking Ruling Creates Controversy

GPS tracking system technology is a valuable tool among police and law enforcement agencies. This is because the monitoring devices allow police to conduct extensive investigations and document criminal activity 24/7 without ever placing a uniformed officer in harm's way. However, many privacy advocates have been up in arms over the practice of vehicle tracking by police because almost every state does not require the men in blue to first obtain a warrant before equipping a car tracker to a vehicle. Although the GPS monitoring practice still falls into what many lawyers would say is a grey area, the Ninth Circuit Court's recent ruling could change the way police use car tracking technology.

After reviewing a case where Oregon police used a GPS tracker to monitor the driving activity of a local marijuana distributor, the Ninth Circuit Court found that police did not violate the drug dealer's constitutional rights by placing a car tracker on his vehicle. The ruling could be a game changer because it could open the door to police all across the nation stepping up GPS tracking applications, a practice that has become more common among police.

The car tracker that was used by police showed that the suspect was indeed a drug trafficker.

Tracking System Opinion

Did the courts get the ruling correct that police should not be required to obtain a warrant before using a car tracking unit?

Source: Daily Tech