this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
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[–] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 89 points 2 years ago (7 children)

SURELY these cops can be totally trusted to not use this when they see an attractive woman they want to follow around, or a vulnerable minority they want to harass.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 37 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I mean, the Japanese police has been doing this for decades with paintball guns. Definitely better than high speed chases.

[–] realbadat@programming.dev 41 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Oh 100% it's better than high speed chases.

And given the history of basically every police force throughout the United States, guaranteed to be misused and abused as well.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub -1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah, police are already abusing GPS trackers. The thing is that banning technology isn't going to fix that, it's a government that will hold police accountable for their crimes.

[–] realbadat@programming.dev 4 points 2 years ago

I don't believe anyone said anything about banning anything.

[–] Daxtron2@startrek.website 21 points 2 years ago

Silent, small, and easily hideable gps trackers already exist that would make much more sense to use than this.

[–] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 years ago

This seems harder to abuse than the regular GPS trackers they've had for a long time. The dart probably makes a loud noise when it hits the car and might damage the paint. If they're harassing someone wouldn't they rather quietly stick a tracker to the bottom of a car where it wouldn't be noticed?

[–] bitfucker@programming.dev 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Abuse of technology is not the fault of the technology itself. You didn't blame the gun for misuse of guns by the police do you? IMHO, this tech is better than the government having EVERY car GPS tracked

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 years ago

You don't blame the tool, you blame either the individual or the policies. Unfortunately, in US police, the individuals tend to be the failed marine dictator wannabees, who the thanks to lacks policies get a near carte blanche to abuse those tools like there is no tomorrow.

Same goes for gun policies in general, they're so dumb that you have near daily mass shootings there, causing loads of individuals to wonder how this can possibly happen and claim that there is nothing anyone safe god himself can do about the situation.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Uhhh it does sound a bit far fetched to think they'll start shooting these darts at random people? I don't think it's a very discreet process. Something that could happen but I don't foresee this becoming a common thing

[–] BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 60 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Anyone start a pool on when the first news story of abusing this tech will happen? Because I want in lol.

[–] Natanael@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 years ago

It's easier to abuse traffic cameras for that purpose

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

I've got "5 minutes ago".

[–] Novice_Idiot@lemmy.wtf 35 points 2 years ago

Wellp it's better than driving someone into a ditch but damn this is gonna get abused.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 34 points 2 years ago

This isn't as bad as facial recognition

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 30 points 2 years ago

It's not as bad as what they currently do, but it's trivial to foresee the abuses of this technology.

[–] TotalFat@lemmy.world 30 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Unoriginal bastards stole the idea from Batman!

[–] soggy_kitty@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 years ago

Fast and furious emp darts when?

[–] tomjuggler@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm my county a high percentage of cars have GPS trackers fitted already - by the owner - because of the high vehicle theft rate.

I imagine if that police here just have to call up the tracking company to achieve the same result - something to think about actually (I don't have one, my car isn't worth much)

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

I think if you're in a car chase type situation, firing a dart is probably quicker than accessing someone else's database

[–] Socsa@sh.itjust.works -4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The problem in the US is that the cars are stolen and just get ditched immediately after any interaction with the cops. This helps them find the car, not catch the criminals. Obviously high speed pursuits are even worse, but this doesn't really solve the problem.

What they really need are payloads which can electronically fingerprint the occupant's phones and smart watches and shit.

[–] TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee 9 points 2 years ago

They would absolutely use that on innocent people, rampantly