GPS Tracking

Years ago, when a town’s law enforcement department received a report of a stolen car of motorcycle, they were able to gather a team of professionally trained officers to conduct an in-depth investigation that would include interviewing witnesses and potential suspects, looking for clues around the crime scene, and travelling long distances to catch the perpetrator.  In today’s society, these measures are no longer considered efficient and plausible as budgetary restraints continue to weigh heavily on smaller scale municipal law enforcement agencies.  Technology such as mobile GPS tracking applications have thankfully stepped in to fill the gap, not only allowing civilian users to protect their personal property but also allowing law enforcement officers an enhanced insight into criminal logistics through baited vehicles and similar programs.  The latter utilization of GPS tracking technology involves attaching a GPS tracking device to an undercover vehicle and placing it in an area of historical criminal activity.  If stolen, law enforcement officers are able to then track where their baited vehicle is and either apprehend the thief immediately or allow him to potentially lead them to an area of larger criminal activity such as an illegal chop shop where thieves strip and sell auto parts for scrap.  With the proven success of these baited car programs in Canada and the United States, many law enforcement departments are looking to expand the GPS tracking devices into a greater variety of vehicles.

Last month, law enforcement officers in Nelson, British Columbia began baiting cars and trailers (the two most commonly stolen vehicle types in the area) with GPS tracking systems.  With the immense success of the program, the Nelson Police Department is currently finalizing arrangements to expand the technology into ATVs, motorbikes, and boats as well.  These vehicles are also extremely common in the northern part of the country that Nelson embodies, yet these vehicles have been historically harder to track down when stolen.  Now, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers from Nelson as well as other parts of the nation are banding together to train with various vehicles as the Integrated Municipal Auto Crime Team’s GPS tracking-based bait program gains widespread implementation.

Nelson’s police chief noted that the main reason that the GPS tracking program is being put in place even in areas of historically low crime rates is that it instills a much greater perception of risk in the minds of would-be auto thieves.  As new forms of crime and limited financial resources continue to shape law enforcement operations, GPS tracking-based security measures help to spread the word to potential thieves that someone is always watching.

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A young woman’s joy ride with a stolen car was cut short by police, who found her with the help of a vehicle tracking device.

Sherice Johnson, a 21-year-old Chicago resident, was charged on Sept. 22 with vehicular hijacking by Oak Park police. Law officials were able to track down the stolen vehicle by the GPS tracking locater attached to the car. The victim was a woman, who said she was carjacked in the business district of Oak Park, a western suburb of Chicago. Police did not identify the victim by name.

The car owner told police that her car, a 2004 Audi, was parked outside a business on the 800 block of South Boulevard Sept. 21. Two women approached her about 5 p.m. and grabbed her at the shoulders as she approached the car. The two criminals grabbed the car keys and the woman’s cell phone, jumped in the car and drove away, according to police.

The woman saw no weapon and she was not injured in the incident, Oak Park Police Commander Len Jorgensen said.

The Audi was equipped with a real-time vehicle tracking system. A real-time GPS tracking device catches satellite radio signals at regular increments, usually every few seconds or minutes. The vehicle tracking receiver’s location is determined by a mathematical calculation called triangulation. Those position updates are transmitted over a wireless network. The vehicle tracking system user can see the vehicle moving along a map on a remote computer.

In this case, police monitored the stolen vehicle on a computer map. GPS tracking led them right to the Audi and the carjacker.

Johnson was later identified by the victim in a lineup.

Source: Pioneer Press

Cary, Illinois, December 15, 2008. The existence of a GPS tracking unit in a fleet vehicle proved to be doubly advantageous when the truck was recovered on the same day after being stolen from the company’s lot. (more…)