Rocky Mountain Tracking

By Greg Bartlett

Law enforcement officers have a responsibility to protect and defend law-abiding citizens. Many times this includes not only finding and punishing perpetrators of crimes, but also preventing known criminals from striking again. While prevention of crime is a monumental and sometimes frustrating task, GPS tracking devices have made the process more manageable, particularly when dealing with known criminals who are out on bail.

Tennessee police departments currently use GPS tracking devices to track sex offenders and will soon be implementing the system for other perpetrators as well. Offenders will be required to wear the devices at all times, allowing police to track their movements in real time as well as to review their exact location in retrospect. The signal sent from the GPS tracking device to the receiver gives police information such as location, speed of travel, number and duration of stops, and direction of travel.

Information can be viewed as a report pinpointing location at specified intervals, a technique known as “breadcrumbs” because it allows the viewer to follow the trail of signals to locate the GPS wearer. If a crime is committed that mimics a known perpetrator’s style or that occurs near the offender’s place of residence, police can check his location and know immediately whether he was in the area at the time.

Bail for known sex offenders has long been a point of contention for the average citizen. Living on a street where one’s children might come into contact with such a person raises concern for any parent. While GPS tracking devices cannot predict behavior, they do provide a check on the actions of criminals since the offender knows that his likelihood of being caught vastly increases with the GPS technology. Police officers in Memphis will monitor offenders’ GPS tracking devices from a “Real Time Crime Center” and thus will know whether complaints against an individual are legitimate or not.

Police officers have one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in our society. They make many enemies and are often blamed for failures in the system whether those failures could have been prevented or not. GPS tracking devices give police departments the upper hand in criminal investigations by instantly providing accurate information regarding known criminals. With this information, police can evaluate whether current investigative lines of inquiry are likely to produce results or whether they should be pursuing another course of investigation altogether. It’s all part of upholding law and order in the safest and most effective manner possible.

By Greg Bartlett

Scientists have studied fish migration habits for years for the purpose of gaining knowledge about the creatures that inhabit the greatest portion of our planet, yet are perhaps some of the least understood. Until recently following a fish through the ocean was an extremely difficult task. With the advent of GPS tracking, however, scientists have been able to take much of the guess work out of the process and can reliably track and in some cases even extrapolate data to predict the behavior of certain fish species.

Questions at the forefront of researchers’ minds include how long fish stay in a certain area, how far they travel over time, whether there are seasonal or other patterns to their behavior, and whether their movements can be predicted to aid in research, the fishing industry and human safety. For example, current tracking of schools of cod can provide fisherman with information about what fishing methods to use, where to find the best fishing grounds, and what the expected progression of the fish might be.

Scientists can use GPS tracking tags to study fish distribution, migration, shoal behavior, and temperature patterns. This information provides data to improve our understanding of fish navigational processes, a subject that has made little progress and remains mostly speculation. Equipping ocean vessels with GPS tracking devices allows scientists to receive nearly continuous data signals via the ships’ sonar equipment.

GPS tracking can also provide information about dangerous or protected species. One group of students placed a GPS tag on a whale shark and tracked its movements over several months, providing information about depth, speed of travel, and behavior patterns. Another research project, headed up by a Texas State University professor, used GPS tracking to monitor shark killing behavior. His study found that sharks do not attack randomly, but rather work around a centralized area. This information has been valuable in determining the likelihood of people being the victims of shark attack in specified areas and also provides useful knowledge for shark habitat identification and protection.

While much about ocean life remains a mystery, GPS tracking has been a valuable tool to aid scientists in the study of our underwater counterparts. Perhaps one day we’ll know as much about fish as we do about mammals. Until then, however, we can rely on GPS tracking to continue to provide the most accurate and up to date information possible in our continued efforts to explore the deep.