GPS Tracking

A “Ticking Time Bomb”

The world is becoming more and more connected each and every single day, and each of us who live and work and interact in this digitized world give little bits of ourselves away. With social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr, individual and corporate data that at one point in time was considered highly personal and classified, has now been made readily accessible to the general public with a click of a mouse.

At the turn of the millennium, the term “server” still referred to the person who brings the food to your table at a restaurant, but now it encompasses a completely different meaning altogether. Today, a server refers to a computing program that allows users to store electronic data, such as emails, Google searches, banking records, phone conversations, text messages, pictures, personal information, etc.

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More than Just Coffee

Colombian coffee has been recognized worldwide for its high quality and distinctive taste. Since 1959, Juan Valdez, the famed Colombian coffee farmer, alongside Conchita, his trusted mule, have become the universal symbol representing the pride and joy of the Colombian coffee industry. This fictional character has become a national icon, to the point where the Juan Valdez character is used as an ingredient brand, to specifically denote coffee beans that are only grown and harvested in Colombia.

The coffee industry has served as a source of economic stability for the entire country by providing a source of steady income for hundreds of thousands of native Colombians. However, Colombia is also recognized as the world’s largest producer of cocaine and business. The effects of cocaine production range from environmental damage to effects on education, health and the country’s economy.

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PoliceOne also features the most current news and analysis from some of the top experts in law enforcement.

LandAirSea System’s SilverCloud Receives High Marks

PoliceOne Senior Editor Doug Wyllie took some time during the Christmas holidays to test out LandAirSea’s SilverCloud real-time GPS tracking system.

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Tell Us What You Think 

In light of the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision on the warrantless use of GPS tracking devices by law enforcement officials, we want to hear some of your thoughts on this issue.

Please take a moment to fill out our poll by clicking here.

For more information on the Supreme Court’s decision on GPS tracking and warrantless tracking, click here.

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Supreme Court Mandates Warranted GPS Tracking

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that law enforcement officials violated the Constitutional rights of suspected cocaine dealer, Antoine Jones, when they attached a GPS tracking device on his Jeep without a search warrant. The data obtained from the GPS tracker was used to convict Jones of possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute, which was later overturned in a federal appeals court.

District of Columbia police and FBI agents watched Jones, a nightclub owner, for months with an array of surveillance techniques, including tapping his cellphone under a warrant from a federal judge. Police had obtained a warrant for the District of Columbia, however, it expired before the GPS tracking device was installed in Maryland.

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The United States vs. Antoine Jones

On November 8, 2011, the Supreme Court listened and responded to oral arguments from both sides in a landmark case, which would have determined whether police and law enforcement agencies would be able to monitor suspected criminals with covert GPS tracking devices without having to obtain a warrant.

The case involved a suspected cocaine trafficker in the Washington, D.C. area, whose movements were monitored 24/7 over a 28 day period without a warrant by the FBI and local police investigators. Some of the information obtained from the GPS tracker was used to convict Antoine Jones of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, which was later overturned by a lower circuit appeals court.

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New GPS System Tracks Whereabouts of Pedophiles

Queensland’s (Australia) most notorious pedophiles have been caught lying about their whereabouts and meeting other child-sex offenders after being fitted with new GPS trackers in December of 2011.

The new GPS system, costing $13.7 million, triggered 287 alarms last month, 53 of which were serious enough to follow-up on. This lead to several breaches, which authorities acknowledge wouldn’t have been detected so quickly, if at all without the help of the new GPS tracking system.

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Police Employ New Tactics to Combat Rampant Bike Thefts

Bike theft is a serious problem in Cambridge (UK). In 2010, the city was named the UK’s bike theft capital according to a report by the Cambridgeshire County Council. In 2007, it was reported that thieves stole  2,240 bikes in the city, increasing to 2,326 the following year, 2,597 in 2009 and 2,870 in 2010.

As a result of this growing issue, local law enforcement officials devised a series of tactics last year aimed at combatting this rampant problem. City police officers employed new crime-busting tactics including a new city centre police team, targeting criminals who sell them and trap bikes fitted with GPS tracking systems to deter and catch the culprits.

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Charges Dropped for Turtle Lake Driver

A 60-year-old driver for a handicapped transportation service in Turtle Lake, WI, was accused of sexually assaulting a child in his care. However, this past week he had the criminal charges against him dropped after the 11-year-old girl admitted she made up a story that he molested her sexually.

According to a phone interview from District Attorney Dan Steffen, Paul L. Burritt was not just “not guilty” of the accusations made against him, he was clearly “innocent” of all charges. He went on to state that this was “a prosecutor’s worst nightmare.” All charges against Burritt were dismissed on a prosecutor’s motion and Steffen is working to have them expunged from the criminal computer records.

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Stolen Taxicab Tracked in Denver

A man was arrested in Denver, CO this past Wednesday after law enforcement officials said he stole a taxi, robbed a convenience store and then led police officers on a chase that ended when he crashed the cab into a tree in the Civic Center Park.

According to a local police report, the suspect stole an orange Union Taxi mini-van and then drove it to a Diamond Shamrock at around 1 a.m.

After robbing the convenience store, the suspect took off again in the stolen cab. The taxi was equipped with a GPS tracking device, which allowed police to track the precise location of the vehicle. The suspect led officers on a late-night chase, which ended with the cab going off the street and onto a sidewalk, where he then smashed in to a tree near downtown Denver.

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