GPS Tracking

The marriage between computer science and electronic technology has produced an offspring of devices and solutions that have infiltrated all aspects of modern society, many of which can be summed up in three letters:  GPS. 

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) consists of a constellation of 24 satellites that can determine the location of a vehicle, person or other asset to which it is attached and record that position at regular intervals.  Widely used as valuable tracking tools by businesses and individual consumers, GPS systems likewise offer numerous benefits to law enforcement agencies of all types.

Two important objectives of law enforcement are safety and efficiency.  Many police departments already use GPS tracking to monitor the location of their officers and police cars which has proven especially helpful for officers in need of assistance.  Vehicles equipped with GPS trackers can be more easily tracked and recovered if stolen, leaving those dramatic and dangerous high speed chases to Hollywood’s screen writers and producers.   Use of GPS in patrol cars and other law enforcement vehicles can also help save critical time when responding to emergencies.

GPS has proven to be an important resource in accessing other decisive forms of investigative information that once took many laborious hours.   Fingerprints, license numbers and images of suspects can now be transmitted swiftly via satellite using GPS.  And while some may question the moral and ethical ramifications of such procedures, law enforcement officials have placed bracelets on suspects and paroled criminals to monitor their movements, thereby ensuring greater public safety.

While criminal investigative methods go back as far crime itself, they have undergone much evolution since their cloak and dagger days.  Interviewing witnesses, identifying weapons, processing police reports and collecting physical evidence, have traditionally required much time, resources and costly manpower.  In the last ten years, computer forensics and upgraded surveillance techniques have superseded many of the conventional approaches to fighting crime and “cracking” cases.  During those old fashioned “stakeouts”, private investigators would spend hours of valuable time camped outside of homes and businesses to observe a suspect’s comings and goings.  The GPS tracking device simply waits for the suspect’s vehicle to move, eliminating the physical presence of a private detective and all of his paraphernalia.  With rampant budget cuts plaguing organizations throughout the country, the replacement of these outdated procedures with GPS has proven effective in cutting labor costs while producing optimal results.

This millennium promises to be one of changes and challenges within the realm of private investigation, as well as other specialized fields.  While GPS tracking in its many applications is not a replacement for experience or training, it is undeniably paving a pathway for future investigative strategies.

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Tags: GPS Tracking, Private Investigator, Spy

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 10:50 am and is filed under GPS Tracking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.