GPS Tracking

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The GPS tracking feature of a victim’s cell phone helped police in Sioux Falls foil a robbery and kidnapping in progress. A former professional football player is behind bars, accused of the crimes.

A spokesperson for the Sioux Falls Police reported that the accused is Alvin Richard Robinson, 26, who calls that city his home. His charges include aggravated assault, second degree robbery and first degree kidnapping.

According to accounts pieced together from the victim and police, the incident spanned an overnight, Feb. 10-11, 2010, and was essentially a night of drinking that drew progressively more violent. (more…)

WASHINGTON COUNTY, VT – Two brothers are facing up to 10 years each in federal prison for dealing heroin on the East Coast.

They could have minimized the damage to their lives if they had changed their habits after their initial arrests; but they went right back to their routine and repeated the offense.

Police caught the culprits twice in the very same way: with GPS tracking devices on their cars. (more…)

When GPS Tracking emerged in the mid-90s onto farms, the application was limited:  yield mapping for crops.  Now about 15 years later, this technology has made significant in-roads into the way crops are planted which enhances crop yields even further.

To wit, implement manufacturers are now including the wiring and mounting spaces for GPS devices that are built specifically to hold these units.  Also, these units are performing important functions in the planting process that adds specificity heretofore not enjoyed by the farming community. (more…)

As long as there have been banks, there have been people willing to rob them.

There is no asset more desirable and versatile than good old money. Every year, hundreds of financial institutions have their coffers cleaned by armed and dangerous criminals. The acts are rarely more complicated than stickup, grab and go. Then stash the cash.

But now that money packs with GPS tracking have found their way into cash drawers, bank robbery might require a little more intelligence and forethought. (more…)

Every year, about a million cars are stolen in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s a staggering number. But the good news is that over the last several years, the number of vehicle thefts is shrinking, ever so slowly. Comparatively, in the mid 1990s, 1.5 million cars went missing annually.

Every year, about a million cars are stolen in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s a staggering number. But the good news is that over the last several years, the number of vehicle thefts is shrinking, ever so slowly. Comparatively, in the mid 1990s, 1.5 million cars went missing annually.

Experts in the insurance industry say the trend is caused by more diligent police work, and the growth of anti-theft devices available on the consumer market. Vehicle tracking systems based on Global Positioning System technology top a list of effective devices for loss prevention and recovery.

By installing vehicle tracking devices on their cars and trucks, people can save a lot of time and money associated with theft investigation. A residual benefit to the pocketbook is the lower insurance premiums GPS tracking users often are given.

GPS tracking and theft prevention systems have become immensely popular in urban areas, according to the FBI. Ninety percent of all vehicle thefts occur in metropolitan areas. Car thieves do some of their best and quickest work in plain sight. (more…)

GPS tracking technology is a welcome benefit for most car rental companies. Not only does it give company managers the ability to track, in real time, each car in their large fleets (and keep in mind some of these vehicles are moving clear across the country!) But GPS tracking also offers security that these assets can be traced and recovered if they get stolen.

Those in the illegal business of car thievery have been forced to operate with more caution and innovation since GPS tracking devices have found their way into the lives and cars of everyday people.

A rather disturbing trend has been making the rounds of YouTube and social networking sites. Thieves have been taking the same GPS tracking technology and using it to their own advantage. They rent a car, secretly install a small real-time GPS tracking device that costs as little as $300, have a duplicate key made, return the car, then monitor it until it is at a time and place convenient to be hijacked.

Video Shows Gangsters Stealing From Car

Sometimes the belongings inside a car are stolen rather than the car itself. This allows the thieves to return again and again to the same source, for goods that can be sold on the street. A video on YouTube shows how easy this deception can be. Two men approach a car in a hotel parking lot, pop open the trunk and make off with a laptop in a matter of seconds.

There are some who believe this particular video was faked and that the story is an urban myth. But certainly the crime itself is probable and of serious concern to any traveler or owner of a car rental agency. Imagine the convenience GPS tracking would afford a would-be thief. He could follow his target, in real time, on a computer, without being detected. He could wait for days if necessary, until the vehicle is parked in a prime place, where the thief would not draw attention to himself; for instance, an airport, train station, a stadium or a water park. (more…)

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has a large presence in the American prison system. In more than half of the states in the U.S., active GPS tracking and monitoring devices are being used to keep tabs on criminals, while they are out on probation or ordered to home incarceration.

The most commonly used GPS monitoring device is the GPS tracking bracelet. These bracelets (actually worn on the ankle) use a combination of GPS satellite signals and built-in GSM /GPRS (signals over a digital cellular network) to report to police or parole officers. The GPS tracking bracelet is a lightweight unit that communicates with a separate box called a personal transmitter unit (PTU). The PTU must be carried on the offender’s person, on a shoulder strap or around the waist. Some models have a transmitter that can sit on a tabletop. If the communication between devices is interrupted, an alert goes out. The prisoner and the authorities get messages and alert tones. The prisoner is also responsible for keeping the batteries charged, which must be done once or twice a day.

The ankle bracelet idea is not new, only the GPS tracking aspect of it. Earlier ankle bracelet systems ran off of radio-frequency. These were less efficient because all they could do was alert an officer or probation officer when the prisoner moved out of range of the base unit.
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Everyone has heard about the Somali pirates and their kidnap cases. One recent case in the news is that of retired British couple Rachel and Paul Chandler, aged 55 and 58, who were kidnapped by Somali pirates when they were heading towards the Indian Ocean in their yacht, the Lynn Rival.

The news hit headlines when the pirates demanded an exorbitant ransom: $7 million. The incident acted as an eye-opener for those people who pursue sailing as their passion.

The pirates stripped the couple’s ship of everything of value and removed the couple to a secret location. It took a week for the British Navy to locate the 38-foot-long yacht.

Had the yacht been equipped with a GPS vehicle tracking device, would it have been easier for concerned authorities to trace?

GPS Tracking Used for Boat Theft Recovery

Across the globe the interest in recreational boating is growing. The results are that boating is generating good revenue in sales and tourism. But along with the increase in popularity, cases of boat thefts are also rising at an alarming rate. Some recent statistics: From the period 2006 to 2008, 19,854 watercraft theft cases were reported in the U.S. That’s a huge blow to the economy. Row boats, pontoon boats, sail boats, speed boats, power boats and canoes are some categories of boats which are stolen in great number.

The number of hijacked boats is increasing also. In the Indian Ocean off Somalia, despite a presence of policing war ships and aircraft, a pirate presence is growing. They attack anything from small fishing vessels to huge cargo ships. The Somali government estimated nearly 200 people, who were crew aboard eight ships, are currently hostages of pirates.

The sudden increase in the cases of the thefts has compelled boat owners to safeguard their properties by installing GPS tracking devices in these valuable assets. If they cannot prevent them from being stolen, GPS tracking at least will aid authorities in recovering the stolen merchandise.
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A Global Positioning System (GPS tracking system) is one of the most popular consumer electronics products of modern times. It will find the exact position of an asset, person or vehicle to which it is linked, anywhere on earth.  People who want to monitor their remote assets at regular intervals will find GPS tracking technology not only practical, but essential.

History

The technology behind GPS tracking is the U.S. Department of Defense’s system of satellites, out in orbit. In 1978, the first GPS satellite was launched as an experiment. By 1995 the full constellation of 24 satellites was in orbit and operational. In 2000, by order of President Bill Clinton, the GPS system, with non-degraded signal, was opened to users globally. Since then, people worldwide have come to depend on GPS tracking for a variety of location-based services.

How Signals Get to the GPS Tracking Device

Consumers often ask what is the best spot for GPS tracking placement. GPS tracking systems operate only when the GPS receiver – which is to be attached to the object to be tracked – has access to the constellation of GPS satellites. This usually involves what the industry calls a “clear line of sight to the sky.” Consumers should know, however, that GPS satellite signals can penetrate glass, plastic, fiberglass, carpet and any number of materials, with the exception of concrete and steel. Some GPS tracking units, such as the LandAirSea GPS Tracking Key and the Tracking Key Pro® can pick up GPS tracking signals reflected off the ground.

The raw data received from the GPS tracking satellites is used to calculate an object’s location, based on the time, then its direction and speed of movement. The calculation is called triangulation. It means that, to get a good estimation of position, it is important for GPS tracking receivers to get transmission, or signal lock, from at least three satellites. The information is kept stored in the GPS tracking receiver.

How the Data Gets to the Consumer

The goal of a GPS tracking system is to track an object and to let the user know where that object is traveling. This usually involves a depiction of the object moving along a map on a remote computer. There are two types of GPS tracking devices, and the consumer will make his or her purchase decision based on how quickly they need the location information. Passive GPS tracking devices log the data and hold it in memory until the user retrieves the device and downloads the information to computer. In real-time tracking, all the positioning information is transmitted by modem to a database, which can be accessed easily on any remote computer or through a mobile phone with Internet connectivity.

What information can be provided by GPS tracking systems? (more…)

GPS tracking technology has once again proven that catching speeders with radar guns is “old school.”

In Bristol, UK, a man successfully beat a speeding ticket when he showed in court that the old-fashioned radar gun used by a traffic cop was off by more than 10 miles per hour. Gareth Powell was traveling on a highway in his company vehicle in November, 2008 and a police officer stopped him. The policeman said the radar checking his speed registered 61 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Powell said he was certain he hadn’t broken the law. He remembered that his company had outfitted all its vehicles with GPS tracking systems for better fleet management. High-quality vehicle tracking systems are incredibly accurate, because their readings are based on signals from satellites in space. GPS tracking technology was originally developed for the U.S. military, for use in training and conflict.

What’s good enough for Uncle Sam was also good enough in local traffic court. A check of the GPS tracking history log for the Ford van showed it traveling at 48 mph at the same spot on the highway.

The difference was drastic enough to warrant a case dismissal.

Why GPS Tracking Data Works in Court

This is yet another case proving that old-fashioned radar technology is inferior to GPS tracking technology. Ordinary citizens everywhere are challenging speeding tickets with the argument that police are using dated methods of documentation. Radar guns have to be calibrated frequently to ensure their accuracy. Some police still use human calculation, using a stopwatch and lines painted on the road.

It seems the key to victory in court is first proving the accuracy of GPS tracking readings, and, second, proving the defendant’s GPS speed reading was at the same time and place where the police officer is alleged to have captured his radar reading.

The UK’s Powell succeeded on both points. He brought his GPS tracking company’s director to court to speak as an expert witness. That GPS tracking specialist testified that the reading was good within three meters, about 10 feet in U.S. distance.

There are 24 satellites at work in the U.S. Department of Defense GPS tracking system. When a GPS tracking receiver gets a lock on three or more satellites, the reading is considered accurate. Powell’s location, time and speed were based on signals from eight satellites.

Is it time for police to adopt 21st century technology to catch speeding scofflaws? GPS tracking is far superior to radar.

Some GPS tracking devices take a “snapshot” of speed and location every few seconds; some every few minutes. In cases of speeding, it might be difficult to prove the accuracy of a GPS tracking device that monitors a vehicle with widely-spaced readings.

Active or Passive GPS Tracking?

For the purpose of beating speeding tickets, either an active or a passive GPS tracking system would suffice, because they both record a vehicle’s travel history. GPS tracking systems have extensive memory and/or storage capacity on a server. Hundreds of hours of movement can be kept securely for later review.

Many cellular phones have a GPS tracking features, but they often are not as reliable as independent GPS tracking devices. This is in part because they depend on the location of cell towers for their operation, and they do not have comparable memory capacity to store travel history or track in great detail.

Court Fights Take Time

The courts are beginning to accept GPS tracking data as valid evidence. But vindication from a speeding violation still takes time, because the wheels of justice turn slowly. The UK speeding case took nearly a year to make it to the judge’s bench.

In Sonoma County, CA, teenager Shaun Malone’s fight over a speeding ticket has stretched two years, going to trial and then appeal, and it cost his family thousands of dollars. In his case, a policeman using a radar gun clocked him going 62 mph in a 45 mph zone. The vehicle tracking device Malone’s parents had installed in his car for teen tracking recorded him driving at 45 mph.

Source: RoadTransport.com