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I don't know what percentage of car chases are of professional criminals, but reliance on GPS device like this to end a car chase might allow them to evade capt

by tivert 4y ago

I don't know what percentage of car chases are of professional criminals, but reliance on GPS device like this to end a car chase might allow them to evade capture. GPS jammers are apparently cheap and easy to make, and someone who's stealing cars or robbing might be unconcerned with also comitting an FCC violation. If the cops shoot one one and hang back enough for the suspect to get out of sight, they could lose the person they're chasing once the jammer is enabled. https://hackaday.com/2020/09/08/teardown-mini-gps-jammer/ https://hackaday.com/2020/09/08/teardown-mini-gps-jammer/ https://greetwin.en.made-in-china.com/product/LFyTJkOHwCcd/China-Portable-Vehicle-GPS-Jammer-Anti-Tracking-Car-GPS-Blocker-GPS-Signal-Jammer-2-Antennas-Gpsl1l2.html https://greetwin.en.made-in-china.com/product/LFyTJkOHwCcd/C... Since these use adhesive, they might also be able to be defeated by a dirty vehicle.

0xcde4c3db 4y ago
I wouldn't take it for granted that these actually use GPS at all, let alone exclusively (e.g. they might also use cell tower or BSSID triangulation). It's pretty common to use "GPS" generically for other methods of automated geopositioning.
varenc 4y ago
I think "professionals" just avoid a car chases in the first place? My take is that most people trying to outrun the cops aren't going to be so highly technical and well prepared. (as a digression: GPS jamming might not be the best approach, but that depends on what the StarChase does. It would probably make more sense to jam its transmission capability, which presumably relies on cellular, rather than try to jam its GPS reception capability. If GPS is effectively blocked but the device can still transmit it could still attempt to locate you using cell towers or wifi BSSIDs.)