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By Harriette Halepis

Just a few months ago, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Highway Superintendent James Flaherty (along with his son, Kevin) was charged with abusing his position. Flaherty was caught awarding city construction jobs to private companies that were, in fact, owned by the Flaherty family. In short, Flaherty was effectively stealing city funds.

GPS & Fire Trucks

This scandal sparked a lot of debate within the city of Haverhill, and recently Mayor James Fiorentini decided to install GPS trackers on city fire trucks. This decision was spawned by the numerous citizens throughout the city who have reported seeing city fire trucks parked in odd places for long periods of time.

The new GPS tracking system will track the location of fire trucks in order to discourage firefighters from taking too much free time during work hours. In addition, the city hopes that these trackers will also help to reduce response times while also conserving fuel.

Presently, the GPS trackers have been installed on all city fire vehicles – except for any department deputy or inspector vehicles. At the moment, city is hoping that the cost of the GPS tracking system ($5000) will benefit both citizens and firefighters.

This is not the first time that a major metropolitan center has decided to use GPS trackers in order to track city vehicles. Many municipalities around the globe are discovering that finding out exactly where city vehicles are during any given workday is a lot easier with the help of a reliable GPS system.