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Article Written By Greg Bartlett

Law enforcement departments  across the country must constantly balance the demands of protecting citizens against the costs of department operations. In a perfect world, performance of duty would never suffer due to lack of funds. Unfortunately, the reality is that the costs of purchasing equipment and meeting payroll demands weigh heavily on law enforcement administrators, which forces them to make various budget cuts.  That’s why many law enforcement departments across the world  have turned to GPS tracking as a way to cut costs.

GPS tracking devices act as an extra set of eyes for labor-strapped law enforcement departments. By reading reports that a tracking device sends to a computer, police officers can monitor the movements of any vehicle. In addition, the number and length of the stops being made can be monitored from one central location.

One of the primary uses for a GPS device is following suspected criminals. Rather than paying an officer for long hours of observation in a stake-out, a department can attach a tracking device to a suspect’s car, thereby keeping track of all his movements. They can also use current personnel more effectively to take care of known problems while letting the tracking device keep an eye on suspected criminal activity. Police departments across the country have used GPS tracking technology successfully and report not only cost savings, but also more effective observation since tracking devices never fall asleep or lose the trail of the criminal. Yet, despite the effectiveness of GPS tracking, the tracking practice has not been without criticism by privacy rights activists.

However, tracking criminals has just become legal. A recent judgment by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that attaching a tracking device to the car of a suspected criminal does not violate that person’s privacy (even if the car is parked in a private driveway).  The ruling also stated that law enforcement officials can continue supplementing police duties with the tracking devices.

This is good news for both the cash-flow and the performance effectiveness of law enforcement in the states affected by the ruling. GPS tracking allows officers to apprehend criminals who might otherwise go unpunished for crimes such as drug trafficking or theft, enabling them to better protect citizens who might become victims of criminal activity. At the same time, those departments will require fewer personnel to perform observation tasks, enabling them to remain under budget and to allow officers to focus on carrying out other urgent responsibilities.