Today's modern cars are giant machines filled with sophisticated electronic equipment that powers the convenient features that automakers convince buyers they need.
Despite its shortcomings with supposed self-driving technology, EV automaker Tesla (TSLA) is the first name that comes to mind when it comes to automakers on the cusp of automotive technology.
Tesla EVs, including the bestselling Model Y and the weird and wacky Cybertruck come equipped with an array of cameras that assist its advanced driver-assistance systems like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.
However, in the vehicle's Sentry Mode, the cameras capture the area surrounding its vehicles like a mobile closed-circuit television (CCTV) system.
While this feature may be invaluable to owners who are scared to death about the welfare of their prized cars, Police in an EV stronghold are using Teslas to get crafty with their investigation work.
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Mobile Video Devices
According to a recent report by the San Francisco Chronicle, police around the San Francisco Bay Area have been using video footage captured by the cameras in Tesla vehicles near crime scenes to aid their investigations.
Police in Oakland, Calif., and other Bay Area cities have used video footage captured by Tesla cars parked near crime scenes as valuable evidence in their investigations, treating the Elon Musk machines as a key mass surveillance tool.
“We have all these mobile video devices floating around,” Richmond Police Officers Association president, Sgt. Ben Therriault, told the Chronicle.
He noted that officers like him and his colleagues frequently seek videos from Tesla cars who were bystanders to a crime. Usually, the owners directly consent to officers downloading their cars' footage. However, when an owner cannot be located, police can request a search warrant to tow cars to the police station and gain access to their cars.
Lead Witness Tesla
On three separate occasions between July and August this year, Oakland police sought to tow at least three Teslas that were found to be bystanders in separate crimes.
On July 1, a man was found in an RV at a hotel parking lot near the Oakland airport with stab and gunshot wounds that ended up being fatal once he arrived at a nearby hospital. During their investigation, police located a Tesla parked opposite the RV.
The Tesla's owner was a Canadian tourist who reportedly arrived at the scene right when police officers were taking the car away on a flatbed. The tourist allowed the officers to download the footage without taking the car, which spared him an inconvenient visit to the police station.
Another Tesla, a Tesla Model X, played a role in gathering evidence for a homicide that took place on July 13 outside a beauty supply shop in Oakland.
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Police said that a 27-year-old woman was hit and killed in the crossfire between five people, prompting officers to obtain a search warrant to tow three vehicles, including the Model X, and gather CCTV footage from a nearby grocer.
A few weeks later, two men were charged with murder and a string of other felonies. Probable cause declarations in the case did not refer to the Tesla by name but noted “high-definition quality surveillance footage” that police have obtained.
Police said a third Tesla was more involved in an incident that took place on Aug. 12, where a man with a gunshot wound to the head was found in the backseat of his girlfriend’s car.
Though police did not find any weapons inside the Tesla, it was towed away as evidence; the police believed its cameras may have captured the crime taking place.
Negative Consequences
According to the Owner's Manual of several Tesla models found on their website, "Sentry Mode is disabled by default," essentially meaning that there is no guarantee that a Tesla near a crime scene will actually record a crime taking place, even if it were next to it and had a clear view.
However, the police are not ready to roll the dice, which can put innocent people and their cars at risk.
“When you have these cars on the roads that are constantly capturing information, even when they’re parked, the police can look to them as a resource,” said Saira Hussain, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who specializes in government surveillance, told the Chronicle. “That obviously puts third parties — people who are not involved at all — in the crosshairs of investigations.”
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