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Police Busted When Tracking Device Found On Car

Posted by kdawson on from the george-orwell-meets-the-keystone-kops dept.

uh oh notes a story from Down Under where a police investigation came to a screeching halt as a man being investigated by the police found tracking devices in two of his cars, ripped them out, and listed them on an auction site. "Ralph Williams, of Cromwell, said he found the devices last week in his daughter's car, which he uses, and in his flatmate's car after the cars were seized by police and taken away for investigation."

4 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sue the police? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    And what kind of law requires a warrent to do something, except when the police are claiming they are in a hurry and don't need a warrent if they think the judge will be on their side?

    You do realize that the US has very similar rules of evidence, right? That whole 'exigent circumstances' thing? There are similar rules for FISA wiretaps, even before this whole NSA scandal thing, in that DHS could have tapped someone's phone then gone and gotten a warrent retrospectively.

    It's more limited than the scope of this law seems to be, but the idea is by no means absent from the US legal system.

  2. Ralph Williams arrested for 'Theft of Property' by isaac · · Score: 4, Informative

    The subject in this case, Ralph Williams, has been arrested for theft of property. See http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1336811 for a more recent article.

    I suppose the police will argue that listing the items as police bugs on an auction site shows awareness that the bugs weren't his to sell. Thus, he'd "stolen" them by their logic.

    Mr. Williams' day in court promises to be interesting...

    -Isaac

    --
    I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
  3. Re:Fascist Police tactics not so funny by Lenbok · · Score: 5, Informative

    I mean that puts Australia more towards the Fascist end of the scale than even the US doesn't it?
    (and that's hard to do)


    FYI, the article is referring to New Zealand, which is not yet a state of Australia.
  4. Re:Good going from the PR dept. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maybe somebody at the police station where he picked up the cars was careless with inventory, and he swiped a couple.
    Maybe:
    "A Cromwell man who found police surveillance gear in two cars they returned to him has been arrested for theft of property.".