Police Seize Teslas that Witnessed Crimes

[SC Maintenance]

Seems police want the video footage from Tesla's that might be in proximity to a crime. They are getting warrants and towing some vehicles. Seems like it would be easier to ask nicely, but what do I know.

Two sources - one feeds the other - depending on how you like to consume information.

"who have begun getting warrants for the footage captured by the vehicles — even leading some owners' Teslas to be towed amid the department’s efforts to secure high-quality video evidence.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62044621/teslas-being-towed-by-police-to-collect-video-footage/

 

[DriveHard]

Now our cars are being used against others...can a Tesla plead the 5th? Wouldn't the data be able to just come from the cloud anyways without the hardware?

 

[Vil_Riker]

It's like issuing a warrant for security camera footage. I wonder why they also issue a warrant for Tesla to download the footage and telemetry information.

 

[KrisZ]

I wonder if the owners are on the hook for the towing and impound fees.
Also, while they are looking over the footage for whatever crime they’re investigating, what’s stopping them from looking into other things that could potentially incriminate the owner?

 

[cptbarkey]

Also, while they are looking over the footage for whatever crime they’re investigating, what’s stopping them from looking into other things that could potentially incriminate the owner?

Oh dear. They will just have to look at every single thing wont they?

How will Tesla owners gaslight themselves to explain things away?

 

[Owen Lucas]

I wonder if the owners are on the hook for the towing and impound fees.

Not all PDs have enough space to store vehicles as evidence so there are contracted tow yards that have indoor storage for high value evidence. I've paid towing and storage charges for these in some cases (with reduced police rates) and in others no charges were paid. Vehicles can be in evidence for months or years.

I've never heard of anyone paying for evidence storage such as a cellphone or gun, big difference though.

Also, while they are looking over the footage for whatever crime they’re investigating, what’s stopping them from looking into other things that could potentially incriminate the owner?

I believe the inventory search during impounding is a loophole in the 4th amendment. If the police find evidence of a crime, i.e. corpse in the trunk or a previous hit and run in the footage during a vehicle inventory, you get busted. It's a fishing expedition at this point.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

And people want to have dashcams.

 

[KrisZ]

And people want to have dashcams.

Dash cams are OK in my book because police don’t know you have it unless you tell them, as it’s not standard equipment. With Tesla vehicles it’s public knowledge they all have this feature. So it’s easy to obtain a warrant.

 

[cptbarkey]

And people want to have dashcams.

sd card slots make that a moot point. Guess Tesla's do not have one?

 

[Owen Lucas]

sd card slots make that a moot point. Guess Tesla's do not have one?

I think there is a USB drive in the glove box, or the capability to download via USB, maybe even via app or desktop? @JeffKeryk should know.

 

[Kira]

Can't you set car videos to "loop" at any given time period?

EX: Every minute. If I get into a crash, I hit "continue" and the recording continues. Now I have my witness.
If there's no crash, I do nothing, and the image gets written over every minute.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Can't you set car videos to "loop" at any given time period?

EX: Every minute. If I get into a crash, I hit "continue" and the recording continues. Now I have my witness.
If there's no crash, I do nothing, and the image gets written over every minute.

In most dashcams the a certain level of G-force (set by the user) will save the footage and prevent it from being written over. My ROAV cameras are pretty sensitive so a certain dip in the highway always triggers the camera. You can also save footage by pressing the save button if you see something interesting.

It's best to have a high endurance SD card, designed to be written over with a large capacity to extend card life. I have weeks of footage on my camera and can record almost an entire cross country trip.

 

[dubber09]

Don't Tesla videos get uploaded to Cloud? Police don't want to issue warrants to Tesla to release the videos?
Dashcams normally have SD cards and if anything then either the card or dashcam itself could be claimed but whole car?
Good thing they don't arrest witnesses and keep them in custody for duration of investigation...

 

[JeffKeryk]

My understanding is, the dashcam has to be on and it saves the last hour.

Model 3 Dashcam

 

[JeffKeryk]

Don't Tesla videos get uploaded to Cloud? Police don't want to issue warrants to Tesla to release the videos?
Dashcams normally have SD cards and if anything then either the card or dashcam itself could be claimed but whole car?
Good thing they don't arrest witnesses and keep them in custody for duration of investigation...

No. I believe Sentry mode videos are, not sure.

 

[mk378]

Wouldn't any videos of interest get overwritten during the time the car is in an impound yard?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Dash cams are OK in my book because police don’t know you have it unless you tell them, as it’s not standard equipment. With Tesla vehicles it’s public knowledge they all have this feature. So it’s easy to obtain a warrant.

Yes but if they ask you.

 

[Pew]

"Sorry officer, I asked my Tesla if it witness a crime and it said no."

 

[cptbarkey]

"Sorry officer, I asked my Tesla if it witness a crime and it said no."

Companies are now people and can make political contributions. Tesla's can now be locked up. Hmm.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I think there is a USB drive in the glove box, or the capability to download via USB, maybe even via app or desktop? @JeffKeryk should know.

Correct. A USB in the glovebox and the data gets overwritten after so long unless you save the footage which saves the last 10 minutes or so. You can set it up to save when the horn is honked, when you tap the camera icon, or if there’s an accident/airbage deployment.

I’ve shared my footage when I witnessed an accident with the parties involved.