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By Greg Bartlett

Last weekend in Arkansas, someone tried to rob a bank. He ran into a bank in the late afternoon, waved a gun around, and demanded money. The tellers were behind bullet-proof glass, though, so they refused, hid, and called the police. The would-be robber ran out. Almost an hour later the masked robber entered another bank, and this time was able to get some money before he drove off.

In June in California, a teenager robbed a bank and escaped, and police didn’t even have a description of the vehicle he was driving. In Washington State last October, a bank robber escaped on the interstate, and, when pursued, started off on foot and attempted to hide in the bushes. But, like the teenager and the bank robber in Arkansas, he was captured. Police followed each of these suspects until apprehending them, even if they didn’t obtain all the information about getaway vehicles or suspects’ descriptions.

It was actually fairly easy for police to follow and capture the bank robbers, since in each of these cases the bank robbers not only received the cash they demanded, but also a hidden GPS tracking device. The GPS device allowed police to locate the robbers, follow their movements, and apprehend them quickly.

The GPS tracking device that the robber in Arkansas unknowingly possessed told police as soon as the vehicle was on the road, and let them follow the man to his house where he was arrested. The teenager in California was picked up while he was still driving home. The Washington State robber, since he carried the money – and GPS device – with him when he tried to flee on foot, was tracked and apprehended quickly. Two robbers in Massachusetts were arrested within minutes of their bank robbery when they also received a GPS tracking device with their money.

GPS devices used by banks, jewelers, or other companies to help locate stolen merchandise after a robbery can be very small, expertly custom-made, and carefully hidden, making it nearly impossible for a robber to find the GPS device without going through each bill or piece of jewelry stolen, which will take time. So once a robber comes into a bank or jewelry store and obtains the money or goods, he may not really be successful. If the company used a GPS tracking device with the money or goods, all it takes is a little effort by the police to find the robber.