How many of you are still prosecuting illegal invetment cases? Are there any pitfalls or problems with narcotics officers doing these kinds of cases? Also, how many of you are using GPS tracking systems on vehicles without procuring a warrant (particularly in narcotics cases)? I know the Seventh Circuit has said that GPS tracking devices installed on vehicles do not require a warrant but what have any of you experienced?

We kinda went around and around in our office as to the effects of placing a GPS tracker on a vehicle without using the procedure set forth in CCP Art. 18.21, �11. The primary concern was that there could be some liability for our officers under �16.06 of the Penal Code for installing and/or servicing the GPS tracker, which in turn could lead to Art. 38.23 problems for our cases.

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, our final word to our officers was to get the court order. It only takes a short amount of time and avoids all the potential pitfalls.

Robert, thanks for the response. I spoke to one of my officers about doing GPS tracking yesterday and he seems to think that Nueces County is okay with installing them without a warrant.(???) He says the GPS instrument is not connected to the vehicle's power supply thereby being a self-sufficient unit, that the device would be placed on the vehicle only when the vehicle is in a public place and that it would only be monitored when the vehicle is in a public place. Does this make a difference to you (or to the Nueces County people)?

My reading of 18.21, Sec. 14(g) seems to require a court order if you are going to install the GPS trakcing device. The exception to the court order requirement for a GPS tracker is when the device is already installed on the vehicle (an accessory that came with the vehicle) or when the owner of the vehicle consents to your putting a GPS positioning device on the vehicle.

If you are going to put this on yourself, without consent of the owner, I think you need a court order.

Why invite the issue? Get a district judge to issue an order to install and to monitor the GPS pisitioning device, just like you would for a mobile tracking deivce, which is, essentially, the same thing.

I've never seen Jack Bauer get a court order. But then, of course, his targets don't usually live long enough to be prosecuted.

Jack Bauer...JB?

Hmmm