Since the time Winnipeg began fitting young convicted car thieves with GPS tracking devices in 2008, fifty-nine people have passed through the system. During that period, there have been thirty-nine instances of tampering with the trackers. In some cases, the convicts have been able to completely remove the trackers, usually by cutting through the bracelet material. In one rather comical instance, a car thief successfully removed his bracelet, only to accidentally throw it into the back seat of the car he was in the process of stealing. Obviously, the police had no problem finding the stolen car and the thief.

When a convict removes his GPS tracking device, law enforcement response is slowed by the involvement of an intermediary company. Instead of sounding an alarm at the closest Winnipeg police station, the damaged bracelet sends an alert to a response center at Omnilink, the Atlanta company that manufactures and manages the tracking system. This communication delay gives a car thief a sizable head start after ditching the device.

To make the most of this still-experimental law enforcement technology, the city of Winnipeg would need to build its own facility for monitoring GPS trackers. If the program is expanded to include violent criminals, as some political groups are requesting, the facility may be worth the expense. However, with the difficulty police are experiencing just keeping the trackers on convicts’ ankles, it seems unlikely that the method will be trusted to keep violent offenders under surveillance in its current form.

Fortunately, Winnipeg police have not made the experimental GPS tracking project the centerpiece of their auto theft crackdown. While fascinating, the tracking is only a small part of an otherwise very successful campaign. Officers have been relying more on personal visits and curfew enforcement, and will probably continue to do so until GPS bracelets are made of more durable materials.