Police Turn to Secret Weapon: GPS Device

Washington Post - 13 Aug

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.

Interesting use of surveillance and also a comment on the 'secrecy' of such methods, which, I suppose, is important in keeping the crooks uninformed.

Still, it seems to be something that should be requiring oversight and maybe the same restrictions as wire tapping. Unfortunately, the cops will just use these methods surreptitiously.

Can't say it wasn't a good outcome.

reply to post by Badge01


I agree it needs oversight as this could be abused fairly fast. It's great for situations like these, but it makes you wonder what other secrets cops have in their arsenal.

[edit on 14-8-2008 by ben420]

reply to post by ben420


Actually people and officials have been calling for GPS units to be attached to the police cars for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is officer safety.

So far, the police unions have stifled such attempts.

Not sure why they'd resist being self-equipped with GPS if only for the cause of officer safety. I've heard of situations where an officer died due to inability to find them engaged in a dangerous foot chase.