By Greg Bartlett

Let’s face it. The United States is no longer as safe as it once was. Terrorism changed our world on September 11th, 2001, and the fear of terrorism is stamped forever upon our memories. In other countries acts of terrorism occur on a daily basis, and nearly the entire world faces the threat of terrorism today. Will we be safe from another attack? Will our families be safe? Is there a terrorist living in my neighborhood?

There may be a simple way to help law enforcement identify and track terrorists, keeping our neighborhoods safe. It’s really very simple. Even terrorists use cell phones, and many cell phones have a GPS tracking system embedded inside them which would allow law enforcement to track the moves of known and suspected terrorists.

Where GPS tracking of terrorists is legal, law enforcement can use a GPS tracking system to locate and track terrorists. For instance, if a terrorist or suspected terrorist is carrying a phone and authorities are aware of the phone number, the terrorist’s moves can be traced. Furthermore, a GPS tracking system can be extremely helpful in investigating and preventing bombings which are activated by a cell phone call or text message.

For instance, if GPS tracking had been used in Mumbai last November, a bombing could have been avoided because law enforcement officials would have been able to identify cell phone users in the area. Authorities could have used this knowledge to even cut off the primary means of communication between the terrorists, thus avoiding the bombing. Even if the bombing had occurred, authorities would at least have been able to find out who was responsible based on cell phone information.

A GPS tracking system can also protect against domestic terrorists, whether they are overenthusiastic animal rights or environmental rights activists, disgruntled employees, violent gangs, racist groups with aggressive agendas, radical civil rights or human rights groups, or those with a grudge against the government. While acts of domestic terrorism do not kill as many people as international terrorism, such the World Trade Center bombings, they do kill a significant number of people and cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage each year.

Terrorism and the fear of terrorism are sweeping our world today, but we can take steps to make ourselves safe. If law enforcement authorities are allowed to use GPS tracking, they will be able to further secure our borders and protect our communities from terrorist attacks.