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by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

GPS Tracking systems excel when used to pinpoint the location of someone who is using one at a given time.  These systems are being used in many applications to help verify actions, too.  One of the ways that they are being employed is as a defense of those who are accused.

GPS & Proving Innocence

In Baltimore, a teen that has an ankle monitoring device for home detention purposes is being accused of shooting a 5 year-old girl in a street fight in the summer of 2009.

According to his lawyer, he was not anywhere near the area of where the shooting took place and therefore is being wrongfully accused.  The ankle monitoring data backs up his claim of not being in close proximity to the location.

While the teen has frequently violated his court-ordered detention, the data on the night in question exonerates him completely.

This brings up several great points about using GPS Tracking systems in this way:

GPS Tracking is Only as Good as the Monitoring

If court systems are going to implement GPS Tracking via ankle based monitoring into their judicial process, they must be ready to use them properly.  If the monitoring is lax in any way, then the problem does not fall on the GPS Tracking system.  The technology behind it is solid, but the monitoring must be as well.  If not, then these systems should not be used in this way.

GPS Tracking is Only Successful as a Sentencing Tool When Backed Up by Enforcement

It is one thing for the monitoring to be flawed, but it is another thing entirely when the data is there that shows violations of the terms of home detention and no follow-up actions are taken.  Someone needs to be held responsible if that is the case.  It is up to the courts to make sure that sentences are enforced across the board without prejudice.

Human error is not an acceptable reason to bash GPS Tracking systems that are already in place and doing their job.

GPS Tracking technology is not Flawless

Technology implementations like this are vulnerable to a small level of flaws due to external influences.  These include things like electrical outages and even in some cases, sun spots which can interfere with signal reception.  These things must be taken into consideration and understood as a possible downside to using GPS Tracking in this way.  But, incarceration has certain flaws that must be addressed as well so this is not a valid reason to cease using ankle based home detention systems.

The best way to view GPS Tracking devices such as ankle monitoring devices is to view them as just a part of the overall sentencing process and install complete systems that help insure that if there is a ‘break down’ of some sort, alerts are issued and proper actions are taken.  That is the answer to the critics of GPS Tracking of criminals.