6-1 Discussion: You Are the Police
Burleigh drives his Jaguar to work every morning and parks in the same location. One morning, as Burleigh is exiting his vehicle, two young men pull him from his car, point a gun at his head, and tell him to lie on the ground. Then they drive away in the car. After they drive away, Burleigh calls the police. Burleigh cannot identify the two men. Pretend that you are the investigating officer who responds to the 911 call. Address the following questions:What crime has been committed?What technology would be useful in locating the car?Now pretend that you have located the car, which is parked in the driveway of a private residence. Can you seize the car without a warrant? Why or why not?What are some obstacles law-enforcement officers face in solving crimes such as the above scenario?Review the posts of your fellow learners and respond to at least two. In your response posts, you must do one or more of the following:Ask an analytical question.Offer a suggestion.Elaborate on a particular point.Provide an alternative opinion supported with research.Be sure to support your initial post and follow-up posts with scholarly examples from the module readings and additional literature where appropriate. You must cite all references according to APA style.Peer post 1In the case of Burleigh and his stolen car, the charges that would be brought to the two young men who held Burleigh at gun point and stole his car would be robbery with a firearm (armed robbery), as well grand theft. Armed robbery occurs when "a person commits armed robbery when he takes something from someone else, using violence or intimidation, while carrying a dangerous weapon. In most states, “armed robbery” is not a distinct crime. Instead, defendants are charged with a crime known as “aggravated robbery.” Using a dangerous weapon constitutes an aggravating factor, which makes the crime more serious than simple robbery, which doesn’t involve a weapon" (Armed Robbery: Laws and Penalties, 2010). The two gun men used violence, while carrying a gun to intimidate Burleigh. The other charge would be grand theft. "Grand theft is the theft of property worth more than a certain dollar amount, often between $500 and $1,000. However, in most states, theft of a car is always grand theft, even if the car is not worth very much" (Grand Theft Auto, 2009). Due to the car being a jaguar, the car exceeds the 1,000 dollar mark and would be considered grand theft. Today, technology has been enhanced to assist law enforcement with traffic stops, as well as stolen vehicles. Technology that would be useful in locating the stolen jaguar would be GPS within the car, traffic cameras on the streets and highways, as well as cell phones having the car's location when parked, as a notification. GPS tracking within the car is beneficial for law enforcement to find the car while it is actively moving. Law enforcement officers can go to the car's dealership, or their IT dept can locate the car through their systems. Traffic cameras and street cams are beneficial incase GPS tracking is not available. Traffic cameras can monitor and track a stolen car by starting from where the car was taken, and following their route. IPhones may assist in the tracking of vehicles due to the location settings on the phone. An individual with an IPhone can set the location of their parked car on their phone and when the car is parked, a notification will come in on their phone stating the location.If I were a law enforcement officer on the case, if the car were parked in the driveway of a private residence, I would be allowed to seize the car due to having probable cause. "Under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, police may engage in "reasonable" searches. For a search to be "reasonable," law enforcement generally must have adequate reason to believe that evidence of a crime will be found there. This is referred to as probable cause" (Police Search and Seizure Limitations - FindLaw, n.d.). "The plain view doctrine allows police to seize evidence they observe in plain view without a warrant. Observation can include any of their senses including sight, smell, and hearing. The caveat is that the officer must observe items from a lawful vantage point, and they must believe the seized items to be illegal" (Seizing Evidence Without A Warrant: Plain View Doctrine, 2018). In this case, the car was in plain sight, and the item that needed to be seized was illegally obtained.Regarding the case above, some obstacles that law enforcement may face would be tracking the car due to the car not having GPS tracking, or the individual not having a smart phone. GPS tracking and smartphones assist law enforcement in finding a vehicle. Another obstacle would be funding for certain areas in order to have street and traffic cameras. Some states and areas use funding for education, or housing rather than for traffic cameras. Lack of staff may also be an obstacle. Lack of staff effects the investigation due to making the process slower. If more individuals were able to assist in the investigation, justice would be brought to individuals quicker. Peer post 2From the State of Massachusetts Perspective...The crime committed was "Car Jacking" (C. 265 S. 21A). Conviction of this crime has an enhanced penalty if there was use of a dangerous weapon, which in this case would be the firearm. The maximum penalty is increased from 15 years to 20 years.GPS location technology would be the most useful thing for finding the vehicle. Lo Jack and similar companies specialize in this technology and if the vehicles are equipped with this technology then it can be easily tracked down and located. Lo Jack provides the biggest advantage for victims and law enforcement because it is the only company directly integrated with law enforcement's cruiser computers.You can seize the vehicle without a warrant because at that point its been entered into NCIC as stolen. You have reasonable belief that the people who took the vehicle were armed with a firearm and used force with it. The exigency allows you to seize the vehicle and to order the people inside of the residence to come out. A warrant is not required because the firearm has made this an exigent circumstance and the public's safety is at risk.Some obstacles Law Enforcement face are the wording of Laws and procedures. Just like this scenario, there are specific rules and procedures for every possible scenario. Keeping up with the updates and rewording of these laws is a difficult task. Example: Definition of a public way versus private property and whether someone inside of their vehicle is considered to be operating it if it is in park but still running.