Police Busted When Tracking Device Found On Car

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."

Good going from the PR dept.

Police have neither confirmed nor denied they placed the devices.

...followed shortly by...

A Trade Me spokesman said the listing was removed yesterday afternoon "at the request of the New Zealand Police".

Re:Good going from the PR dept.

That's exactly what I was going to write. But then, suddenly, monkeys flew out of my ass and while I was dealing with that, you beat me to the post. Oh well, one lives and learns; sleep with butt cheeks clenched tight from now on.

Re:Good going from the PR dept.

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. [tvnz.co.nz]".

Can you legally sell them

If the police leave something in your car like that, do you now legally own them? If a burglar breaks into your house and leaves his jacket, I'm pretty sure he can't ask for it back. If the police did not obtain a warrant, it seems like an analogous situation. I'm not sure what the rules are if the cops did obtain a warrant.

Re:Can you legally sell them

Well, it is a very well-documented legal fact that possession is 9/10 of the law.

Therefore, all the man has to do to be in the right is provide the police with 10% of the proceeds from the sale.

Re:Can you legally sell them

While you're being facetious, if you do find something securely attached to your car, (Not just sitting on it, which could have been set there temporarily, actually attached to the car.) it is in fact yours unless someone can step forward and claims it.

This is false. If a meter wench put clamps on your wheels, they do not then automatically belong to you. And if someone welds a can of caltraps under the rear bumper of your car (to be shook loose at random), you can not be held responsible for accidents that's caused by them.

And no, if a burglar drops his wallet with $1,000 on your floor, that doesn't make the money yours. He may be guilty of a crime, but that doesn't give you any rights to what's not yours. Crime must not pay, neither for the perpetrator nor the victim (when it becomes profitable to be a victim, people will seek to become one, which increases crime instead of lowering it).

Transference of ownership occurs when both parties agree to it. It's not enough that one person thinks it's an ownership transfer.
What this guy did was theft. The police might or might not have broken a law by placing the devices on his car, but that's irrelevant to the ownership of the devices.

Re:Can you legally sell them

Minor correction, the example you give of a burglar dropping his wallet is an example of accidentally leaving the object in somebody's care. In this instance, the police knowingly and willingly put the devices into his possession. And you're right, unless he willingly accepts the devices, then the rightful owner doesn't change...EXCEPT, when he found the devices, he clearly opted to take ownership, and proceeded to attempt a sale. Unless some law prohibits ownership of these devices, then he has every right to do with them as he chooses (as long as it remains within the confines of the law ;). The really interesting part is, if there is a law prohibiting ownership of these devices, it means the police department is an accessory to the crime, in addition to any other crime they committed in placing those nifty little toys in the first place.

Of course, now this guy has just pissed on the police...even if he weasels out of whatever he's guilty of, they will bust this guy's balls for years to come.

Re:Can you legally sell them

In the minds of most police, they are not subject to the law. They ARE the law. Just ask the next one you see on the street (and hope he has a sense of humor). Personally, I would have driven to the officer's house on numerous occasions while sending him messages about "the operation" and finally telling him "the cheeseberger is ready to be fried."

Re:Can you legally sell them

My understanding is that he called the police and asked if they'd left anything in his car. They explicitly said "No", disclaiming any ownership. Perhaps the cop who told him that -- acting as an agent for the police department -- should be charged with theft, but the gentleman here was at worst guilty of receiving stolen property. Since he received it in good faith, I don't think any such charge should go anywhere.

Re:Can you legally sell them

If a meter wench put clamps on your wheels, they do not then automatically belong to you.

No shit, Sherlock. Did the big 'Property of The City' on it clue you in there? There's a reason they put that on there, you know.

He found unlabeled boxes attached to his car. He called the police, he asked if the boxes were theirs. They were not. (At least, according to the police, and, obviously, they'd know.)

And if someone welds a can of caltraps under the rear bumper of your car (to be shook loose at random), you can not be held responsible for accidents that's caused by them.

You can't be held responsible for something you had no cause to know about, but that's entirely unrelated to whether or not it's your property. If they stole a box of nails out of your front seat and stuck them under your bumper, or just unattached your bumper and made it fall off, you aren't liable either. (Assuming the facts are not in question.)

And no, if a burglar drops his wallet with $1,000 on your floor, that doesn't make the money yours. He may be guilty of a crime, but that doesn't give you any rights to what's not yours.

Which is why I made the distinction between 'attached' and not attached. Sometimes things fall on or in your property. That does not make them yours. (Unless they are vegetation, which oddly enough is yours in most places.)

And sometimes things are left on your property, for you, and they are in fact yours.

It's all what a reasonable person would think. A reasonable person assumes a wallet laying on the ground is not for him (Even in his own house), whereas a reasonable person would assume an unlabeled envelope taped to his door full of cash is for him, even if he can think of no reason why this would be.(1) However, sitting in his front lawn, nope, not for him.

Likewise, if you're parked in a parking lot and walk up and see a cooler full of soda sitting on your car, it's reasonable to assume some ass is just using your car as a table and that is not, in fact, a gift.

And if you walk out and see something stuck under your wipers?(2) That is pretty clearly someone leaving you something on purpose.

In other words, while something simply being on your property doesn't make it yours (And I didn't say it did.), it doesn't mean it's not yours. Transfer of ownership can be implied by leaving something for someone.

It happens all the time with delivery people, or people leaving things in mailboxes. (According to postal regulations, things that enter the postal system are property of the recipient.) Or, like I said, things stuck under wipers.

He checked to see if the police had left it, which would be the only people that reasonable would attach things to his car not as a gift, and it wasn't them.

Now, if someone else shows up and claims it's theirs and the left it attached to his car by accident, he might be in trouble, but as it pretty obviously is the police's, only they would have grounds for complaint. And they can't because they said it wasn't theirs, leaving the obvious implication it was his.

1) Well, it might be on the wrong house, but that doesn't really apply to this case.

2) And that raises an interesting question. Are you honestly asserting that people can't legally claim ownership of pieces of paper stuck under their wipers? And before you say 'Paper is valueless', let's postulate it is an 85 dollar concert ticket.

Re:Can you legally sell them

And no, if a burglar drops his wallet with $1,000 on your floor, that doesn't make the money yours. He may be guilty of a crime, but that doesn't give you any rights to what's not yours. [...]

And sometimes things are left on your property, for you, and they are in fact yours.

Waitaminute, so if the neighbor walks his dog and it craps on my lawn, and while he's doing it the neighbor drops his wallet, the dog crap belongs to me, but the wallet does not? How unfair can life be?

Re:Can you legally sell them

If I find something electronic that I don't own attached to my car, I call the bomb squad.

And the papers, because they'll want to cover the argument between the military guy with the flack-jacket and the police guy with the red face.

Re:Can you legally sell them

"If that's true, then the question is, who possesses the law?"

We the people of the United States ... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. [dotson.net] Governmental authority, including the authority to create law, is granted by the people. Furthermore, if I may quote the Declaration of Independence:

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Re:Can you legally sell them

Reminds me of when my brother was arrested for siphoning gas from cars ... and after the judge found him to be innocent, he was allowed to collect his siphoning gear back from the evidence locker.

Re:Can you legally sell them

I don't belive it is illegal to posses such gear so giving it back is the right and proper thing to do if they can't show it was used in a crime.

Re:Can you legally sell them

In Germany, you're now accused of being a "hacker" if you own "hacking tools" (like nmap or other tools used to secure your own network). So I wouldn't feel too safe. Depending on where you are, of course.

OK, I'm never going to Germany.

I could easily be accused of being a rapist, since I "own" certain "raping tools", i.e. a penis.

And I carry it with me all the fscking time.

Re:Can you legally sell them

O.J.: Radio interview quote from Marine Corps General Reinwald and a female radio host. He wants to host some boy scouts at the training center for some practise excercises. As follows
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?
GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?
GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?
GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.
GENERAL REINWALD: Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?
The radio went silent and the interview ended. You gotta love the Marines!

-- bash.org [bash.org]

Re:Can you legally sell them

>How's that for a toothless system?
Yes, it's pretty stupid. Why don't you stop wasting your time and money impounding their equipment and just let them grow? It's completely harmless.

Re:Can you legally sell them

you've met my brother then...

Re:Can you legally sell them

In general, in common law jurisdictions, I think if someone leaves there property on your land (which is a similar sutuation), it is still owned by them. You are supposed to try to return it or, at least, keep it for so many years in case they ask for it back.

Assuming the police are responsible though, and they aren't admitting it is theirs, I'd imagine it is fair game. They can hardly complain about him selling their property if they deny it belongs to them.

Re:Can you legally sell them

The police won't admit or deny they placed them. The owner of the cars most certainly own them.

I would've attached them to a police car, though. Or a public bus. Or some kid's tricycle.

Re:Can you legally sell them

I would've attached them to a police car, though. Or a public bus. Or some kid's tricycle.

Or flush it down a fast intercity train's toilet in a waterproof bag. Watch them try to chase it at 120 mph.

-b.

Warrant?

Did they have a warrant to place the devices? TFA doesn't say.

Sue the police?

At what point does it become viable to sue the police for their lies and denials on this case?

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? Sounds like their judges have balls even smaller than those of American judges when it comes to stricking down bad laws.

I bet 90% of the time, the police intend to be in a hurry, and don't even consider asking for the warrent.

Re:Sue the police?

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.

Re:Sue the police?

...it's like what McCain said about torture.

Sometimes, the good guys need to break the rules in order to do the right thing. This
doesn't mean that disrespect for the rules in general should be ensrined into the law
or SOP. If the situation is really serious enough that you need to ignore the usual
rules then you need to be prepared to take any of the consequences for breaking them.

This is especially true for anyone that is supposed to be "setting an example".

If you are a cop and aren't willing to take the consequences for breaking the rules,
then it's pretty obvious that the situation doesn't warrant breaking them. Being too
lazy to get a judge's signature is not a good excuse. Writting the law so that cops
can be lazy as a matter of routine is not good.

This is the part of "being Dirty Harry" that tends to get missed.

Re:Sue the police?

he is in the Grand Old Pedophiles and Corrupt Thieves and Draft Dodgers and Deserters Party, which has become little more than a machine of immoral cowardly thieves stealing as much as they can from the public tills.

You'll have to be more specific I'm afraid, I still can't tell which party that is.

Re:Sue the police?

"but what about smaller areas where a warrant at 3am means having to wrest an old man out of bed?"

Then you wake them up. Or you do your job properly, and plan better, so you don't have to go and bother someone at 3am.

Re:Sue the police?

If the old man finds doing his job to be such an inconvenience, maybe it's time to retire and join the rest of the fogies in Shady Acres. Judges / Magistrates / Trial Commissioners / Whatever The Hell You Have In Jurisdiction X know very well that late night phone calls and police knocking on your door at 4am to get warrants or EPOs or what-have-you signed is part of the job. The stuff you see in police procedural dramas where the cops don't want to call Judge SoandSo because it would be a horror to wake him up is silly. To me, "not wanting to wake the judge" is a sign that the evidence for the warrant is paper thin, and they know he'll chew their ass for waking him up over nothing, when they SHOULD be waking him up over -something-.

Re:Sue the police?

False Pretences

Pretending to practise witchcraft, etc.

365. Every one who fraudulently

(a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,

So, if you legitimately practice witchcraft, that's ok? Looks like the sort of law that would need a bit more fleshing out.

Why sell them? Then you admit they were there...

I would have simply removed them, disabled them, taken them out on some back road, and run over them a few times, followed by a thorough beating with a sledgehammer. The police won't admit they were there, so why should you? Then they'd have to admit to them to get them back, and you could plausibly say you never knew they were there, and thus couldn't be held responsible for their disappearance.

Now if you want to get really funny, leave them powered up and transmitting on aforementioned backroad for a few minutes, make sure they get at least one location transmission off, and then beat the crap out of them.

Re:Why sell them? Then you admit they were there..

Or hide them somewhere near the police station and then re-activate them.

Police:Dear god, he is in the building 24/7 and yet we haven't seen him. He must be an invisible, cop hating machine that requires no food or water! Lets not fuck with him!

Re:Why sell them? Then you admit they were there..

Nope. You want to confuse the piss out of the cops. find where you can apply the trackers to that will be incredibly random. Taxicab is the best choice as they go all over with no real pattern. A large stray dog is also fun.

Re:Why sell them? Then you admit they were there..

Or even better, put each of them into separate packages, mail one to China and one to America.

Would love to see the police phone bill after that ^_^

Even better

Even better would have been if he could have somehow casually slipped it inside a local police car, or perhaps one of their personal cars.

Perhaps the best would have been to slip it inside the car of a local judge, or newspaper reporter. Then sit back and watch the police try to explain that one.

Two Words: Helium Balloons...

He should have attached the devices to helium balloons and set them aloft.

Re:Two Words: Helium Balloons...

I would have mailed them to Nigeria or someplace where the roaming charges are quite high.

Re:Two Words: Helium Balloons...

1) Find controversial local politician, and controversial local journalist.

2) Transfer devices to their vehicles.

3) CALL POLITICIAN AND JOURNALIST and tell them the cops have their cars bugged.

4) Enjoy the subsequent stories of Police Corruption in the newspaper.

Give them away.

It would have been interesting to replace them onto somebody else's vehicle, perhaps a trash truck or long haul truck.

they will become mandatory sometime too

I believe that at some point in the future tracking devices are going to be mandatory and embedded in all vehicles. This will probably be based on some security or safety concern, which may even be imaginary. Another one reason to be car-free.

Re:they will become mandatory sometime too

Have you never heard of OnStar [onstar.com]? That fits exactly what you describe - a perceived additional sense of security and safety by having a corporate entity (or a law enforcement or other governmental agency with or without a warrant) track your every move and even listen in on your conversations remotely. The courts have sided with disallowing OnStar's use for listening in on conversations inside the vehicle, but all it will take is one judge and that's out the window. OnStar's just one more good reason not to purchase a GM vehicle.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." --attributed to Benjamin Franklin

Re:they will become mandatory sometime too

OnStar is a useful system to have in case your vehicle gets stolen. Problem for GM is their cars are so bad that noone will even steal them.

Legality?

Does anyone know the legality in the U.S. of selling, destroying, etc. police devices that have been deliberately left on your property like this?

Re:Legality?

Then again, maybe it's stamped "Property of New Zealand Police. Removal prohibited". One never knows.

Or more likely, based on the article: "Not Property of New Zealand Police, we don't even know about it. Removal prohibited by order of New Zealand Police" ;)

"Other operational matters"?

FTA:

When contacted by The Press, Shaw declined to comment other than to say: "Police use a variety of legitimate investigation techniques when investigating serious crime. However, it is not the policy of the police to comment on those techniques or other operational matters."

Anyone else interpret that as "it is not the policy of the police to comment on those [legitimate] techniques or other [illegitimate] operational matters"?

- RG>

Two devices two parties

Guys forget about judges, buses, smashing them to pieces and whatnot. You have two tracking devices. The obvious thing to do with them is to glue them to the politicians cars. One to a democrat, the other to a republican. Bonus points if you get a friend to cross-file fake DMCA requests from the respective victims to one another. Jackpot if you can crack their wireless connections and download a gig or two of child porn, Disney movies and instructions for growing pot. Then file an anonymous tip or two... If things are to change it needs to have negative consequences for the people who make the rules...

Ralph Williams arrested for 'Theft of Property'

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

Re:Ralph Williams arrested for 'Theft of Property'

Why don't they just let it go instead of digging a deeper hole for themselves by arresting him and lying. This is almost as bad as the recent incident of the under-not-so-good-cover police agents provocateuse with the rocks trying to start a riot in Montebello, Quebec.

As stated in the article, he asked the police officer whose mobile phone device was contacting if the police had left their property on his car. When they denied they were theirs, he concluded they were fair game to sell as they were on his property. I think the judge might take a dim view of this.

Fascist Police tactics not so funny

This is a funny story and all, but isn't anyone worried by this part?

The Summary Proceedings Act, which covers tracking devices, says a warrant should be obtained for a tracking device but an officer can install one without a warrant if there is not time and the officer believes a judge would issue a warrant.

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)

Since when is surveillance ever an issue of immediacy? You usually engage in it over a protracted period in order to slowly gather evidence. Also a warrant hardly ever takes more than a day or even a few hours to get in any country I ever heard of. Anyhow, what Judge is going to refuse a warrant for a bugging device considered so important by the Police that they have already installed it?

This seems to be a deliberate loop-hole in the law to allow for warrant-less surveillance. The very fact that a regular police force investigating a fairly low-level crime uses this tactic kind of implies that this is fairly widespread or typical behaviour as well.

Yet another reason never to go to Australia. ;-)

Re:Fascist Police tactics not so funny

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.

When pigs fly

I wonder if the first clue the police will get that they have been had is when the "cars" travel 300 mph at 30k feet on their monitoring screen.

Things you can do with a police tracking device

Of course, this is another abuse by the powers that be of the common man etc. etc., but this was labeled 'funny', so lets turn to the bright side of things.

Things you can do with a police tracking device:

1. Sell it on an auctioning site - that's what the guy did. Maybe he thought it would get him a few bucks. Didn't work that well, so let's try something else.
2. Destroy it - the Right thing to do. Not much to say about that. Net loss for the police, no gain to you.
3. Abandon it - Watch the cops surround a garbage bin, with hilarious consequences.
4. Attach them to a moving target - this is my favourite. Forget it in a cab, tape it to a bus, throw it on some truck, send it in the mail, whatever. I'd like to see those coppers try to keep tabs on you after a nice portion of wild goose chase.

To sum it up, this guy blew away a perfect chance to make stupid cops look even sillier.

Take Them To An Airport Men's Restroom

Yeah:

Let's take them to the nearest airport men's bathroom and past one in each of the stalls!

Or tape them to the bottoms of seats in an adult movie theatre.

Or, find out which church the chief judge goes to and tape them to the underside of the pews in that church.

Peace

Goddam Summary

Down Under is Australia people, this happened in New Zealand. There IS a difference, like Canada and America!

Take them to a pig farm

and glue them to a pig or two. Maybe buy a already butchered pig, beat the crap out of it and leave the tracking devices next to it. Even better slip them onto somebodys luggage at the airport.

I don't know about Australia but here in Canada you can turn in an item you found and I think if no one claims it in 30 days you can now claim it as yours. If so he shoudl have given it to the cops. If they claimed it then they just admitted to using the tracking devices. If no one claimed it then you own the devices and sell them all you want legally.

Hmmm... good idea!

Next time the police seizes your cars for something trivial, list two bugs on EBay. Should the police get active, it's time to search your car for the bugs.

Saves you the hassle to actually do it "just in case", they'll tell you if they did.

Down Under?

Strictly speaking, this isn't a story for Down Under, it is a story from New Zealand (New Zuland if you prefer).

While many "down under" residents view New Zealand as a minor state of Australia (a dimuitive Tasmania with more sheep), New Zealanders tend to take issue with this.

TV Interview

In a television interview taken just before he was arrested by Police (for possessing stolen police items) - he said that he had driven all over the South Island on a wild goose chase deliberately stopping outside known gang pads, brothels, and other amusing locations.

He found them AFTER the cars were taken?

Ralph Williams ... said he found the devices ... after the cars were seized by police and taken away ...

How on earth did he find the devices after his cars were taken away?

Better Use.....

He should have mailed it to Iraq.

Or put it at the bottom of a 55-gallon drum of catfish bait and rotten meat, and then mailed it to the Police Dept.

How this was found...

a man being investigated by the police found tracking devices in two of his cars, ripped them out,

The article was very sparse regarding what problem he had with the cars that led to the discovery. I will take a speculation stab at this. Cell phones are well known for causing RFI problems with poorly shielded electronics doing everything from causing keyboards on PC's to lock-up to putting a buzz into radio and stereo gear.

The location of the device was on the passenger side footwell. This would place it close to the engine computer in many cars. It may be an easy to install location for the police and the GPS antenna can be located under the dashboard giving a good location for GPS reception through the plastic dash and windscreen, but the cell transmitter in that location could and probably did cause problems with both the stereo and engine computer. As he stated, it was a botched installation that led to the discovery. A proper install would have located the cell transmitter in the trunk away from sensitive electronics to transmit out the rear window. The car ran poorly, but it was probably the teltale radio noise that geve it away. Removing it fixed both the radio and engine computer.

This interference issue is why most magnet mount tracking devices are mounted on the rear of the car away from the engine compartment. Inside the plastic rear bumper on a metal bracket is a favorite location. there is little chance of interference revealing it's presence, and good GPS and cell signals.

Why not mail them?

I would have just mailed them to that nice Nigerian fellow who needs help raising funds. I would love for the police to follow the trail to recover them.

Dumb crooks

The tracking devices were attached to collect evidence. The smart thing would have been to leave them attached and continue life in a nice, law abiding fashion. Instead, Mr. Dimwit rips the bloody things out of the cars and tries to sell 'em. Duh.

This is where he should have put them

He should have put them in Steve Fossett's plane. I know a bit tacky. I could not resist temptation.

Something related

We had something related here in Denmark a few years ago. Two police officers put a tracking device in the car of a person suspected on starting forrest fires, but without getting a permission from court.
This proved he was guilty, because in Denmark justice is above the individual, so all evidence can be admitted in court.

But, the two policemen also had to go to court, for doing the illegal monitoring. But this was a completely unrelated case.

In Denmark, selling the tracking would also be criminal, because they newer was the car owners.

You're thinking too small

People are thinking too small when they say "put it on a bus!" or "Put it on a police car!"

If you really want to confuse someone, stash it somewhere in a commercial plane.

Slling An FBI tracking Device On E-Bay

A great song about finding and selling an FBI tracking device by Darryl Cherney can be found at http://www.darrylcherney.com/realamericanlisten.htm [darrylcherney.com] There is even a line just like from the article, "We can neither confirmed nor deny..."

Re:Frist Psot

Obviously not you.

Re:Would've been hilarious if...

Er... Why?

Glue them to a bus. Best of all a long range one. Or a delivery van.

Re:Would've been hilarious if...

Or a police car.

Re:Would've been hilarious if...

Or to a different country. Roaming charges bitch!

Re:Would've been hilarious if...

Its probably safer to not be found planting a device on a police car if you're currently under investigation for torching a cruiser.

Re:Would've been hilarious if...

Actually on a second though the most fun is a post van.

SIM card?

OK, so it uses a SIM card,which apparently also works in a mobile phone. So, it might be fun to pick up a cheap cellular phone from ebay, then slap the card in and regularly make a few bothersome phone calls to various numbers that have a caller-ID, then slap the card back in the device(s) before attaching them to one of the vehicles mentioned in the previous post.

Personally, though, I think it might be more fun to attach the thing to a sewer-sucker or garbage truck... something unpleasant at any rate. Perhaps the interface would allow one to reconfigure the number it calls out to, so you could make use of the device itself.

Regardless, though,it seems that - legitimately or not - the police have it in for this guy, and doing anything of the like is just going to piss them off and provoke an unpleasant response. How about taking them to court for police harassment? If they don't have a warrant then you've got a good case (and who knows, you might be able to keep the things after, especially if it's denied they own them). If they do... well at least you get to see what the grounds of the warrant were.

Re:Would've been hilarious if...

Attach the device the police officers wifes car and watch him have to explain to his wife why there is a tracking device on her car that reports back to her husbands cellphone! :)