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.
