GPS Tracking

Theft of High Priced Items is Priority

High Tech Answers Being Deployed

You know those semis that you pass on the Interstate systems around our nation are carrying lots of merchandise – many thousands of dollars of merchandise.  Groups of thieves have been targeting these trailers for the goods that they carry so that they can steal and profit from them on the black market.

The most popular items to steal are electronics, with food and drinks about even.  The reason is because electronics are in such high demand by consumers, and the food and drinks are very easy to move once they have been stolen.  Pharmaceuticals are popular, too because of their high street value.

Thieves are smart, though, and so a concerted effort is needed by the manufacturers, logistics industry, law enforcement and government to stem the tide of these types of theft.

The First Line of Defense

GPS Tracking devices are considered the first line of defense because they can be used in three ways.  First, to track the big rigs, large ships, and rail engines that provide the horse power to pull their cargo.  These vehicles have already been using satellite-based navigation systems to help monitor the shipping departure and arrival times of their cargo. (more…)

That Ankle Bracelet is Not the ‘Fashionable’ Kind

Even the Famous Get the GPS Treatment

Source acquired via Canoe, May 26, 2010, Beverly Hills, California – Superior Court judge Marsha Revel was less than impressed with actress Lindsay Lohan decided to skip a court date, so that she could attend the Cannes Film Festival.  As a result of the missed court date, Revel has ordered Lohan to wear a GPS tracking bracelet equipped with a blood alcohol level device. Should Lohan try to remove the device, violate parole, or use drugs or alcohol, she could be sent to prison for a fair amount of time. (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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PALMETTO BAY, FL – An 18-year-old south Florida man accused of a series of cat killings is out on bond; and his whereabouts are being monitored by a Global Positioning System bracelet.

Tyler Weinman of Palmetto Bay is also ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation and counseling while his case makes its way through the Miami-Dade County courts.

Police arrested Weinman June 14 and charged him with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improper disposal of an animal’s body and four counts of burglary.

Since April, 33 cats have been reported dead in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay on the southern tip of Florida. Nineteen are being linked to Weinman, who detectives say is the ringleader of a group of criminals. The animals were stalked, captured and violently killed, often gutted and mutilated, and the bodies were placed on their owners’ properties.

His attorney Michael Walsh said he is “a good kid who’s a victim of circumstances.”

Reports say police became interested in Weinman after viewing postings on social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. When they questioned him they allegedly observed scratch marks on his body consistent with those inflicted by a struggling cat.

Police got a judge’s permission to place a GPS tracking device on his car. The vehicle tracking report allegedly showed Weinman was in certain places at times when the cat killings were believed to have taken place. When questioned, he was unaware the vehicle tracking device was on his car and he denied he was in the areas in question.

Walsh defended Weinman, pointing out that the areas are along routes the suspect would have driven regularly between his parents’ homes. Weinman’s parents Douglas and Alba Weinman, are separated.

Weinman appeared in court June 16 and bond was set at $249,000.  The judge ruled that he was competent and didn’t appear to be a threat to himself or others. He posted bail and is undergoing counseling. He must wear a GPS-based electronic monitoring bracelet. Weinman is set to answer to the charges at an arraignment July 6.

Many following the case were disturbed that the suspect seemed unaffected by the arrest. He smiled for his mug shot and during court proceedings.

Defense attorney Walsh is yet to see the evidence prosecutors have against his client. Probable cause is sealed in the court file. Police suspect there might be more people involved in the crimes and said releasing information now would threaten the investigation.

Walsh claims police acted too quickly and without solid evidence, due to public outcry over the grisly cat killings.

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – A planned evening of thievery turned comical in New York, when three teenagers, in essence, called in their own crime. It’s the high-tech version of leaving your wallet at the scene of the crime. The criminals led police right to them.

At about 3 a.m. Dec. 29, three young men were trying to break into cars and strip them of parts at Sierra Auto Body Parts on Midland Avenue in Middletown, police reported. Two teenagers were in a car while the third waited nearby as the getaway driver.

One of the suspects unknowingly bumped his cell phone’s emergency button and it dialed 911, said Middletown Sgt. Jay Tobin. The 911 dispatcher was puzzled at first, but stuck on the phone long enough to overhear the criminal suspects’ plot and got it on record.

All cell phones have emergency GPS tracking capability, ordered by the government in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. So the dispatcher tracked the phone by its GPS signal to the scene of the crime and sent a patrolman that was in the area to the location.

At one point on the police tape, one of the suspects can be heard saying to the getaway driver, “You better come. We’re getting the tires … just shut the car off. They’re going to think we’re stealing it.”

After which the dispatcher relayed to the patrolman: “It sounds like they’re ripping a car off … it dialed in their pocket by accident. They’re taking the tires off a car.”

Police arrived while the crime was still in progress and, while they tried to run, Fabian Corley, Andre Pryce and Xavier Jenkins were arrested. Each of the three teens faces several misdemeanor charges.

The manager of the auto parts business, John Sierra Jr., spoke to a television crew and admitted that his yard, full of cars, might have been a lure to the young men. Because of the bad economy, many customers were unable to pay the costs of repair, so he had been keeping customer’s cars longer.

CARLSTADT, N.J. – An arrest in Carlstadt, a borough of New Jersey, stands as proof that Global Positioning System (GPS tracking) technology is increasingly becoming smaller and more sophisticated.

Police arrested two men for allegedly stealing bottles of Creed-brand designer perfume and cologne from a Carlstadt, N.J. shipping company they worked for. Tiny GPS tracking devices were attached to random bottles of luxury fragrances, after representatives of both Gale Network Company and retailer Neiman Marcus fretted over losses in their inventory. The fragrances had been disappearing over the course of a year.

On May 27, a GPS tracking report noted that one of the marked bottles had wavered from its regular shipping route. The real-time GPS tracking device on the bottle led authorities to the Jersey City home of Carlos Mayta, 30.

Police found a total of 17 bottles of Creed in Mayta’s possession. Mayta then fingered an alleged accomplice, Arturo Vasquez, 30, of Union City, who reportedly admitted to stealing 30 bottles of Creed. The estimated value of the perfume and cologne recovered is $11,000.

Each man was charged with theft of movable property. Mayta faces an additional charge of receiving stolen property.

Not only do the suspects face jail time, they are being investigated by U.S. Immigration Services. Authorities said the case is still open and other arrests might be pending.

The House of Creed is a sixth-generation, privately-held French company founded in 1760. Its products, for men and women, are favored by the Hollywood elite, and they pay handsomely for them. Some Creed fragrances retail for as much as $130 an ounce.

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C., Canada – Police investigating the report of a stolen vehicle found something else entirely when a GPS tracking device pointed them to a home in Maple Ridge, B.C.

In May, the owner of a white Dodge pickup phoned the Ridge Meadows Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to report that his vehicle had been stolen. The missing vehicle was equipped with a portable, real-time vehicle tracking device. The owner logged on to his computer to get GPS tracking information and he got the exact location of the GPS tracking receiver – even the address.

Police, prepared for a rather routine recovery and arrest, went to the residential address, but found no white Dodge pickup. They did witness a vehicle carrying two men pulling in the driveway. The passenger ran quickly into the house, with the driver not far behind.

When police gained access to the home, the smell of marijuana was detected. They found pot, and they uncovered what they believed to be a crystal methamphetamine lab. In addition, several vehicles and one boat on the property were seized and suspected stolen.

The original white Dodge pickup that police went to the suspect house to find, was located several hours later. It was parked on a busy city street several blocks away.

Investigators later linked the drug suspects to the Dodge pickup theft as well.

The truck’s GPS tracking system was not inaccurate. It appeared that the suspects discovered the vehicle tracking device and removed it so the truck would not be traced. Unfortunately for the suspects, someone brought the GPS tracking device into the house to store it, and forgot to turn it off.

Three men and a woman who lived in the house were arrested.

Every day, stalkers, petty criminals and drug dealers are locked behind bars, nabbed with the help of one of the fastest-growing surveillance technologies in law enforcement: the GPS tracking device.

One such criminal, Bernardo Garcia, was recently convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine in northwest Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation mounted a passive vehicle tracking device on his car and tracked him to his manufacturing site. A spokesman for the police unit said that investigators use GPS tracking units on about 75 suspect vehicles a year. An appeals judge ruled that drug agents had good reason to suspect Garcia of drug dealing and were justified in using the GPS tracking unit to bust him.

GPS tracking systems use signals from satellites to determine exact location of a receiver. The device used to nab Garcia was a passive vehicle tracking device. It had to be removed from the vehicle and the GPS tracking data downloaded onto a personal computer. Passive GPS tracking devices are helpful to police because they provide a detailed history of a vehicle’s movements that is powerful evidence, proven effective over and over again, in courts of law.

In general, police can freely place vehicle tracking units on suspects’ cars when the vehicles are parked on public streets, in parking lots, or in view of the public on a private driveway. Courts are still referring to a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said people should have no expectation of privacy in public places.

GPS tracking is widely used by police, and quite affordable, considering It saves untold hours in manpower. One investigator described GPS tracking technology simply as “a way to work smarter.”

WOODSTOCK, IL (May 12, 2009)  – Designers, manufacturers and distributors of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking devices are lauding a Wisconsin court ruling of last week, because it will likely result in their technology being used more frequently, and perhaps with less hesitation, by law enforcement agencies.

The District 4 Court of Appeals in Madison, Wis. concluded that police do not need to obtain a warrant in order to place a GPS tracking unit on the outside of someone’s vehicle. Judge Paul Lundsten said in a statement that GPS tracking is not unreasonable search and seizure and that it didn’t violate privacy rights any more than regular visual surveillance.

The court, however did see the potential for abuse and followed the ruling with a request that state lawmakers pass laws detailing how and when GPS tracking crosses the line.

The case was prompted by a 41-year-old Madison man named Michael Sveum who was accused of stalking a woman. Police did get a warrant and secretly mounted a vehicle tracking device on Sveum’s car while it was parked in his driveway. After five weeks, police retrieved the device and also got a second warrant to search Sveum’s house. He was later arrested. (more…)

Massachusetts’ highest court is scheduled to decide if GPS vehicle tracking by police is an invasion of privacy. The decision could be precedent-setting because it might allow law enforcement agencies to use GPS tracking systems to track suspects without first obtaining a court order. The MyFoxBoston Undercover news team notes that use of the technology is on the rise. Steven Moehling, Vice President of Sales for LandAirSea Systems Inc. in Woodstock, IL, was interviewed as part of the television news segment. LandAirSea’s most popular vehicle tracking device, the GPS Tracking Key, was tested on a news vehicle.