It should be noted that the tracker did not say "property of the police" and if even it had, there's no way to know if it was the police (since cops don't tell people they're being investigated and someone else could put a stamp on their own tracker. And it's one police unit that has placed the tracker, dispatch or whoever you might call, won't know which unit placed the item or whether a unit did).

From article: "'What if it’s not the police’s tracker device?' asked Justice Geoffrey Slaughter. 'What if instead it belongs to the jilted girlfriend or the nosy neighbor? Is it also theft if he removes that device from his vehicle?'"