The investigation began Friday after Racine County Sheriff's deputies pulled over Dean Brown, 37, of Racine, near highways 75 and 20, according to a criminal complaint. A deputy smelled marijuana as he approached the car, and discovered 18 pounds of freshly harvested marijuana in the car's cargo area. The marijuana, stuffed in two large garbage bags with heavy stems poking through the plastic, was worth between $63,000 and $140,000.
Brown was arrested for felony drug possession, but that was just the beginning of the investigation. Deputies found a GPS unit around Brown's neck with coordinates to areas throughout Racine County, the complaint said.
On Saturday, Metro Drug agents plugged coordinates saved in Brown's GPS unit into Google Earth, a searchable compilation of satellite images available through the Internet. By entering the coordinates, agents were able to find the locations in Racine County programmed into the GPS unit.
Then, the Sheriff's deputies used Google Earth to locate other marijuana patches. Try it. Enter in your home or work address and zoom in and see the quality of the resolution. It is remarkable. The images are better now than they were just a year ago.
There is, of course, no reasonable expectation of privacy after a flyover; that was settled a long time ago. One might be scared by a helicopter overheard, but what about a satellite constantly taking pictures? You never know it is there.
A decade ago, long before this service, which is general, the North Little Rock Police used private satellite imaging to attempt to locate a car at a house at the time of a murder, and they were able to actually acquire a photograph during a satellite pass for the approximate time of the crime. They did not find anything, but one has to applaud their ingenuity.
[crosslinked to www.FourthAmendment.com]
