# Autos with camera functionality as witnesses to crime **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776 "2024-09-04T15:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/41 "2024-09-06T21:22:38Z")
We’ve never added a USB to our Tesla. Yet it still records. Where is that data stored? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/42 "2024-09-06T21:27:01Z")
Looks like the new models come with a USB stick pre-installed: > **[2021 Model 3 came with Tesla USB stick](https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/2021-model-3-came-with-tesla-usb-stick.218694/)** > > I guess Tesla needs to improve their marketing. The Tesla USB caught my eye for use with Dashcam/Sentry so I bought on the Tesla store: USB Drive - 128 GB > > I get it and head for the glovebox and open it and... > > The same one was already installed.... ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/43 "2024-09-06T21:27:32Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I highly doubt PD is going to get a warrant w/in an hour It’s my understanding, though just based on what I’ve read, that in situations like that the proper action is for the police to deny anyone access to the car while they wait for the warrant. No guarantee that will preserve evidence, though. If the Tesla is running sentry mode, then it is turned on, and will be deleting older recordings both from a recent drive and earlier sentry mode recordings. For a reasonable scenario. 20 minutes after I park my car at a movie theater, it views a hit and run with injuries. The police can’t reach me (silence your cell phone!), and when I come out 2.5 hours later the car has already deleted that two hour old recording. Just like recovering any other deleted file, it could be trivial or impossible. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/44 "2024-09-06T21:34:07Z")
My six month old Tesla came with a USB drive in the glove box ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/45 "2024-09-07T07:08:14Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > No guarantee that will preserve evidence, though. If the Tesla is running sentry mode, then it is turned on, and will be deleting older recordings both from a recent drive and earlier sentry mode recordings. So, no matter what, you can only get the last hours data from a tesla just sitting there? In other words, these warrants are getting nothing? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/46 "2024-09-07T14:14:33Z")
I don’t think so. If you have “Sentry Mode” active it will save any activity near the car. The intent is to record attempted theft and vandalism. It eats up battery so I think it’s not activated very often. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/47 "2024-09-08T19:16:18Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So, no matter what, you can only get the last hours data from a tesla just sitting there? In other words, these warrants are getting nothing? We don’t use Sentry Mode so all that is recorded is “safety events” like hard braking, collisions, etc. When I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a deer, it saved that video (I saved those videos). ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776/48 "2024-09-09T03:36:20Z")
The amount of battery used by sentry mode is hard to determine. Looking over the last week, and only considering times when the overheat protection didn’t run to keep the interior at 100F, I see different indications. Parking for 1-2 hours often used 1-2% battery, but then I also have a time when 1 hour used -1% battery, and 4 hours used 0% battery. Jumping back to last winter, when the overheat protection wouldn’t run, a 9 hour run of sentry mode used 5% of the battery, but others where 5 hours used 1%. I think estimating the state of charge is not accurate enough to determine the real power use, and Teslafi doesn’t record the actual power draw, just the SoC. I let sentry mode and overheat protection run, and I just don’t worry about the power used. I wouldn’t do it if I was leaving the car someplace for several days, but all day at work, and around town, I just let them run. Sentry mode does not run when the car is in my garage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autos-with-camera-functionality-as-witnesses-to-crime/1006776.md?page=2)