GPS Tracking

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Three men are facing long prison sentences after Massachusetts police seized a massive marijuana shipment with the aid of a GPS tracking system.

The drugs were in a 360-pound crate that had been moved about 24 miles, from Framingham to Norwood. Police believe it has a street value of about $700,000.

Charged with marijuana trafficking on August 17 were: Peter Bryson, 24, of Roxbury, Boston; Paul Bryson, 36, of Dorchester, Boston; and Richardson Rhau, 35, of Milton.

Police had suspected a drug deal was pending and had a business on Beaver Street in Framingham under surveillance. Framingham Police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration got a search warrant and entered the building about 1 a.m. to find a large crate with what appeared to be marijuana in it. The crate was further divided into a dozen bricks of alleged drugs.

With the consent of the Framingham District Court, authorities placed a real-time GPS tracking device – very similar to those used in vehicle tracking – in the crate and repackaged it.

It didn’t take long before GPS tracking indicated the stash was on the move. Later that morning, police returned to the business and found a man driving away, with the crate in tow.

GPS tracking led police to a warehouse on Kerry Place in Norwood. Surveillance officers observed the three men putting boxes in a van on the loading dock. The men fled, but were later arrested.

GPS tracking technology is heavily used by police. Time and again, vehicle tracking has helped police not only find a suspect, but prove exactly where he is or was at any particular time. Some defendants have challenged vehicle tracking in the courts. The legal system has concluded that placing a vehicle tracking device on the outside of a car does not constitute an invasion of privacy. However the courts in different states have different opinions about whether a warrant is needed prior to placing the vehicle tracking device.

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GPS Tracking Has Endless Applications

GPS tracking has quickly transitioned from its beginnings as a strict-and-serious military use, to everyday consumer applications. Vehicle tracking, fleet management, asset protection and teen tracking are a few of today’s common GPS solutions.

Of the plethora of consumer products that employ GPS tracking technology, some are practical, some are enjoyable and some are decidedly off-beat.

Following are some interesting, innovative and maybe kooky twists on traditional vehicle tracking technology. Try these GPS tracking topics during your next chat around the company water cooler:

• Giant Fish Cage: With the demand for farmed fish rising, scientists are looking for new ways to raise fish as food, in a controlled environment. An engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is testing an alternative to the traditional, shallow tanks that often result in low yields and a sickly fish crop. It’s a sphere-shaped fish cage, outfitted with GPS tracking and a motor for mobility (think hamster exercise ball, rolling around in the sea). It lets food in, keeps predators out and keeps the fish in their natural environment. Farmers can get on the computer and zero in on the GPS tracking location of their mobile fish farms, similar in methodology to GPS vehicle tracking systems. They can move these orbs at will, by radio control. Is this a GPS tracking version of shooting fish in a barrel? It sure would make harvesting easy.
• Walking in Circles: Finally, an answer to that old hiker’s question: “Haven’t I seen that rock before?” Answer: Yes. The magazine “Current Biology” released the results of a study by the German Institute for Biological Cybermetics about man and his sense of direction: When lost or simply wandering, people tend to walk in circles. The Germans put GPS tracking devices, similar to vehicle tracking systems, on people and sent them into the unfamiliar environment of a desert and a forest. The scientists instructed their test subjects to walk in a straight line. When they didn’t have the sun, the moon or another tall, stationary object to use as reference, the GPS tracking subjects always made a loop – eventually. This led to some speculating that, since we all have one leg slightly shorter than the other, maybe humans tend to favor the “short” side. Another theory:  Maybe the GPS tracking subjects enjoyed getting dizzy.
• Talking Golf Balls: A British company claims to have a golf ball with an imbedded microchip that acts as a GPS tracking receiver. If it gets lost, the player can get on a Web-enabled laptop or cell phone and find the location of the ball in real time by its GPS tracking coordinates, just like vehicle tracking. In another prototype, the player prompts the lost ball to emit a beep or distress signal. The computer can use GPS tracking coordinates to tell the player how far and how fast the ball traveled. However, the costs this venture could be prohibitive. Golf balls deteriorate quite quickly in play. And companies are making big money off the fact that golfers often lose their balls in the water or the rough.
• More Mileage from Your Shopping Cart: Leave it to a market researcher to take vehicle tracking technology and adapt it to a shopping cart. A San Diego, Calif. market research firm set out to find trends in American shopping habits. They attached GPS tracking devices – much like those used in passive vehicle tracking – to shopping carts and recorded shoppers in big warehouse stores. The GPS tracking data revealed what department or section of the store the cart was in and for how long. The researcher concluded from the vehicle tracking data that quick-trip buys account for about a third of all store sales. Stores too often focus on stock-up shoppers, trend-setters, label-readers and people that do price comparisons and they overlook the grab-and-go, one-item shoppers. Perhaps someday we will thank vehicle tracking technology for a major change in grocery store checkout protocol: Racks near the cashier loaded with bread, milk and toilet paper instead of candy bars and celebrity tabloids.

Latest Passive Vehicle Tracking Devices Affordable, Practical

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WOODSTOCK, IL – Gone are the days when Dad has to check the odometer on his Chrysler to see if Junior’s been taking a joy ride.

With the help of a passive GPS tracking device, a parent will know; not only if the teen took an unauthorized trip, he’ll know when he took it, where he went, and how fast he was driving.

Using that same technology: an investigator can gather enough evidence to pick up a suspect on drug charges; and an employer can discover why his profit margin is tanking, while overtime is going up.

There are so many practical uses for passive GPS tracking systems today, they are infiltrating everyday life. Most models are small, self-contained and lightweight; they are rather nondescript so they can be placed almost anywhere, and they are very simple to use.

GPS tracking systems have come a long way from the first commercially introduced product by LandAirSea Systems, in 1996. Now more than a dozen years later, prices are down and value is up. Consumers also have more choices and can easily find a vehicle tracking device that suits them, based on style, features and price. (more…)

GPS Device will be Exclusively Distributed by KJB Security Products

WOODSTOCK, IL. – Building on its reputation for creating innovative, practical and affordable Global Positioning System (GPS tracking) devices, industry leader LandAirSea Systems announces the launch of a new product, the GPS TracKing^®, which redefines power and efficiency in the passive GPS tracking market.

The GPS TracKing^® is a passive vehicle tracking device with no monthly fees. Powered by two (2) AA batteries, the GPS TracKing^® records up to 80 hours of movement on a single battery cycle. It was designed to share many of the features of LandAirSea’s most widely-used product, the GPS Tracking Key^®, including compact size, portability and ease of installation; yet with added enhancements, such as longer battery life, faster GPS signal acquisition, a secondary power source, on/off switch and an easily-accessible battery compartment. (more…)

A GPS Tracking device can enable anyone to track the location of a person, a vehicle, or an asset anywhere on the earth. There are 27 satellites orbiting the earth, 24 are operational, the other three will become operational if one of the satellites fail. At any given time there are at least three satellites that are visible in the sky from a location. These satellites could then triangulate on the position of the GPS tracking device attached to the object targeted. By continually triangulating the coordinates on a regular interval, the satellites could determine the speed, distance traveled, and how long an object remains stationary.

There are two types of GPS Tracking systems in the market and these are classified as Passive and Active. 

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