Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

Police Use GPS to Track Vehicle After Theft

June 18th, 2013

It stands to reason that one of the most satisfying things in life must be a job well done. That’s what the police of Carroll County, Kentucky, found out. Thanks to GPS technology, their law enforcement department was able to track down and recover over $35,000 in pilfered goods for the Valley Medical Transportation company in Louisville. A little after 8:00 AM, the company owner notified the Carrollton police after he was able to successfully track one of his stolen vans to Carrollton using GPS (the second van was found by police in Pendleton, Kentucky). Police responded to the dispatch to go to a local gas station where they arrested the thieves and took the stolen items into possession, most of which had been taken from Valley Medical Transportation.

What Do I Do If My GPS Tracked Vehicle Is Stolen?

Before it’s ever taken, having easy access to all your car’s basic information comes in handy: year, make, model, VIN. In the event your vehicle is taken, you will want to contact the police as soon as possible and, once you receive the official police report, your vehicle insurance company. Besides immediate report of the theft, the GPS tracking system installed in your car is your best chance of a quick and successful recovery. You can often track the device from your own mobile phone or computer and can report directly to your GPS technology company that your vehicle was stolen, putting them on alert and following your car’s every current location and velocity. When your vehicle’s real-time location is known, you can report the coordinates to the local police (as in the example above) for highly successful chances of recovery.

How Does a GPS Tracking Device Protect My Vehicle?

Depending on the system company you choose, some tracking devices can be used to manipulate the car from a remote location in the event of theft (for instance, automatic lock-down of doors). Some devices allow you to be notified directly if and when your car alarm was set off or the vehicle has left a predetermined area in the form of email or text alert (some setups allow for automatic contact of the police). With a variety of systems in operation, vehicle owners can usually find the perfect one for them to prevent auto theft.

Parents Consider GPS Tracking for Children

June 17th, 2013

Terrifying stories of child kidnappings have prompted some parents to explore GPS tracking options for their own kids. Parents feel that knowing their children’s whereabouts is essential to safety, and that tracking devices could locate kids speedily if they wandered off or went missing.

Because the child abduction rate is rather high, there is a growing awareness of the need to keep track of children; if a child is not in the house, a parent cannot simply assume that he went down the street to play with a friend. Some parents would go to any necessary lengths to maintain their offspring’s security. Those at a higher risk of going astray, such as special needs children, already use tracking devices. But in light of current trends regarding missing children, many more parents turn to technology to seek ways to insure that a child could be found quickly if he or she suddenly disappeared.

Tracking Apps for Phones

One handy tracking device is a child’s own phone. Parents can simply download a tracking app to a phone and have an instant resource for determining the child’s location. One parent mentioned that she thought that using a phone tracking device would cause her child to feel that he was being monitored constantly; however, if a child already has a phone, it is very cost effective and easy to use that GPS device if there is a pressing need to determine its location.

A Bracelet That’s not Jewelry

Another GPS locating device that is already in current use is a tracking bracelet. It was put to the test recently when it quickly reunited a parent with her special needs child who had wandered away. This bracelet is not available to the general public yet, though. It is exclusively used for children with Down’s Syndrome or autism and adults with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. But you can find similar tracking devices online.

A Whole New Meaning for “Track” Shoes

A futuristic tracking idea is GPS shoes for children. Adult sized GPS shoes already exist; a person can set up a boundary for the shoes which, when crossed, will cause the shoes to emit an alert to the person who is keeping track of the shoes. One parent indicated that if tracking shoes were available for in children’s sizes, she would certainly buy them—of course, they would be outgrown frequently.

GPS Fleet Tracking Lends a Competitive Edge to Businesses

June 5th, 2013

Using GPS tracking in fleet vehicles can vastly improve efficiency and lower delivery costs for companies. That’s why many fleet managers are stepping away from radio communication and clipboards to embrace the newer technology: on-board GPS equipment for their vehicles. Advantages are myriad, including greater employee accountability, lowering fuel costs and travel time, and improved customer service. Many GPS platforms can now coordinate a variety of web-enabled communication avenues, including texting and messaging directly to the GPS device in the vehicle, so a fleet manager can always be in touch with drivers.

Driver Accountability

Tracking technology enables fleet managers to keep an eye on how employees’ travel time is spent. If drivers are accountable via GPS, they are less likely to make unauthorized stops or detours on company time. Furthermore, a fleet manager can analyze a driver’s route and decide whether a new route would save time or gas.

Lowered Fuel Costs and Time Well-Spent

Fuel costs and travel time can be minimized via the use of GPS fleet tracking. If a driver is spending too much time idling or is speeding, both activities that increase fuel consumption, the fleet manager can address the issue so that fuel costs can be kept in line. If traffic is heavy on the current route, a manager can find a way around the obstacle by planning an alternate route, thereby keeping the vehicle moving and on its way rather than consuming fuel by waiting. In addition, managers can get faster roadside assistance to drivers if the malfunction location can be pinpointed. With GPS tracking, a fresh vehicle can be dispatched to the location to get the driver back on the road as quickly as possible, saving time in the process.

Improved Customer Service

Tracking can improve customer service, too. If a customer is waiting on a high-priority delivery or pickup, a manager can locate and dispatch the fleet vehicle in the closest proximity to decrease the customer’s wait time. By having the capability to locate and track a vehicle, a fleet manager can also give the customer an estimated time of its arrival and plan the most efficient routes based on the current location of the driver, getting the vehicle to the destination in the shortest amount of time.

GPS fleet tracking is a viable option for fleets of any size because of its relative simplicity and its potential to give managers the control they need for maximum efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Rite Aid Robbery Foiled By GPS Device

May 31st, 2013

A Rite Aid in the Detroit area was robbed at gun point last month. Just like out of a movie, a man in a dark mask held up the store with a pillow case and a pistol. As directed, the manager emptied the store’s safe of almost $5,000 into the thief’s pillow case. What the robber didn’t expect was the small GPS tracking device the manager slipped into the bag along with the cash. As soon as the criminal left the store, police were notified and the GPS device was activated. The tracking device led them to a nearby intersection, where police stopped and searched a black Chevrolet Impala matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle. Police found the pillowcase, which contained more than $4,900 in cash, a Cobra .32 caliber silver pistol and the GPS device.

The suspects were read their Miranda Rights and arrested on the spot. Adrian Roberts was driving, with Tevin Clay in the passenger’s seat. Roberts is believed to be the getaway driver. After being read their rights, Clay admitted to robbing the Rite Aid explaining that “he could not find a job,” according to the arrest affidavit. No further identifying information has been released on the suspects.

Due to the fact that the Rite Aid they robbed regularly receives out-of-state deliveries from Budweiser, Coke and Pespi, the crime was boosted to a federal offense: interference with interstate commerce. Both men were charged with possession of a firearm during a violent crime as well as interference with interstate commerce. Roberts was also charged with aiding and abetting because of his apparent role as the getaway driver. As security technology improves, it will get harder and harder to pull of crimes like these. GPS technology has helped capture many unknowing thieves and recover stolen valuables.

Eagles Subject Of GPS Tracking Study In Australia

May 31st, 2013

GPS technology has inspired many biologists and other researchers to study wildlife with a new perspective. Most of us are familiar with Jane Goodall’s interesting and immersive approach to studying apes. Without the benefit of a GPS tracking device, as they weren’t yet invented, Jane Goodall studied apes by sharing their environment. She lived with apes for an extended period and gained some great insights about the behavior of the animals in their natural environment. With GPS devices, however, researchers need not sacrifice so much of their time and comforts. An added benefit is the fact that the wildlife is less aware of human observation and so will likely act more naturally.

Felicity Hatton, an honors student from the University of Canberra, began a study of Australian wedge-tailed eagles in order to learn more about their behavior and habitats. Unfortunately, these eagles proved to be very difficult to capture. Her team set up six traps baited with kangaroo road kill from around the area and camped upwind of the traps for 20 days without success. Finally, she settled for a fledgling eagle that had fallen out of its nest. Hatton attached a snag-proof GPS tracking device to the eagle before returning it to the wild.

“I have observed Ein spending time following her parents around, and I noticed that over time the adults were introducing Ein to new habitats – first to open woodland with sparse vegetation, then to more dense woodland, then to very dense woodland on steed terrain on the side of a mountain,” Hatton explained. “The eagles would spend up to several weeks at each habitat before moving on tot he next. By three months they would regularly move around all habitats.”

“I captured a juvenile so, instead of looking at the territory size of an adult, we were looking at juvenile behavior post fledging. What they do once they have left the nest and how long it takes between when they leave the nest and when they disperse and find their own territory.” She hopes to capture an adult eagle for the next tracking study.

Police Use GPS to Track Vehicle After Theft

May 28th, 2013

What Do I Do If My GPS Tracked Vehicle Is Stolen?

How Does a GPS Tracking Device Protect My Vehicle?

GPS: How It Started, And What It’s Become

May 22nd, 2013

Forty years ago, Professor Colonel Bradford W. Parkinson chaired a group of members of the Air Force who would eventually go on to create a system that relied on satellites to calculate as closely as possible the position of a person on the ground holding the proper receiver, what we know as GPS location today. Now 78 years old, he recalls what it was like, and how far the program has come.

“The innovator,” he said at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, paraphrasing Machiavelli, “has for enemies all who have done well under the old condition and lukewarm defenders who may do well under the new.”

GPS Is Everywhere

I don’t think you can say GPS technology has any enemies. With all of the gadgets incorporating GPS technology – smartphones, sports watches, athletic apparel, vehicles – I think it’s safe to say the market is ever-expanding. Currently, there are approximately six hundred million GPS devices being used all over the world. As Parkinson pointed out, they are accurate “down to a snail’s eyebrow.”

Parkinson says it’s “pretty darn surprising” to see the range of applications one can find GPS devices: emergency dispatch; air traffic control; locating Alzheimer’s patients and missing children; search and rescue missions; geocaching; guiding farm equipment; and tracking military soldiers and equipment, just to name a few.

Where GPS Started

The first true GPS device was an experimental one. A military aircraft carried the device, which monitored signals being sent out from four locations on the ground. Five years later, the satellites were launched into orbit, and in September of 1983, two weeks following the death of 269 people when the Soviet Air Force shot down a Korean airliner, president Ronald Reagan gave it the green light to be used by the public.

GPS Today

What started as a location approximation is now incredibly precise. How precise? Our current GPS technology is so accurate in three dimensions, measurements taken in space of the instabilities in the Juan de Fuca Plate (where scientists believe an earthquake will occur that will destroy Vancouver) are precise up to a tenth of a millimeter.

Too Good To Be True?

Do we really have a right to know where anyone is at any given time? The issue is being raised in the court system, but what does Parkinson think?

“Criminals know they’re being tracked and they don’t want to be,” he said. “Teenagers probably have a similar view of life.”

A reporter with the Winnipeg Free Press, upon discovering the devices known as jammers, which is purported to be “a popular item with sales personnel, truckers, and delivery drivers who wish to take lunch or make a personal stop outside of their territory or route off the radar,” asked Parkinson, “Isn’t it natural to want to disappear sometimes?”

His reply: “Most of us are uncomfortable with someone following us all the time. But the real answer for why these things exist is that some people in China discovered there’s a market for this.”

Britain: GPS Tracking Of Stolen Vehicles Put To The Test

May 18th, 2013

GPS tracking devices have been relied upon by many private investigators for a long time. They are effective in locating just about anything all over the world, especially expensive items like iPhones and cars.

Over in the UK, the Telegraph reported recently on a CCTV video released by the West Midlands Police showing two men stealing a BMW 118D from a hotel parking lot in Ladywood, Birmingham in under 15 seconds. This certainly shows the merits of a GPS tracking device when it comes to recovering your stolen car. The two men, brothers, stole a total of 13 cars over the period of 20 days, a combined value of about £250,000. The GPS tracking device, very well hidden on the BMW, directed police right to the garage attached to the brothers’ house in Brierley Hill’s Old Bush Industrial estate in Birmingham.

The brothers were sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles at Birmingham Crown Court.

GPS: Recovering Cars Quickly and Easily

Investigating officer DC Matt Dyer of the West Midlands Police said, “This was an organized, sophisticated operation with high performance cars being stolen in less than 60 seconds. Their method of entry was somewhat rudimentary, but once inside they clearly demonstrated technical skill to start the engine very quickly.

“Our investigation led us to recover all but one of the cars they stole. Car theft is a very risky business given that so many are now fitted with (GPS) tracker devices and that our road network is covered extensively by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras which allow us to monitor vehicle movement.”

Private Investigator Agrees

Private Investigator, an independent detective agency out of Birmingham, also relies on GPS tracking devices. They also turn to the devices in cases where one spouse is said to be cheating on the other to see where it is they are going. As soon as the device is affixed to the vehicle, tracking can begin. The use of tracking devices on the vehicles stolen by the brothers allowed the owners to be reunited with their property.

Says Kristy George, spokeswoman for Private Investigator: “In my professional opinion these brothers were lucky to have stolen as many cars as they did with all the crime prevention modern technology available. An expensive vehicle like a BMW should be fitted with a GPS tracker for the owner’s peace of mind.”

Kidnapper Tracked Down Using GPS Technology

May 13th, 2013

From recording sports data to providing directions to a destination, GPS technology has many applications to everyday life. Recently, a Delaware police department put GPS to work to catch a dangerous fugitive.

The Crime

One early morning in February, Edward Thomas Johnson entered a home in North Versailles Township, violated an order of protection, assaulted his girlfriend, and kidnapped his infant son. He then left the area, leaving police with a warrant but no criminal to arrest. The North Versailles police suspected that Johnson had fled to nearby Upper Darby, so they contacted the police for that area.

The Chase

Using the GPS technology built into Johnson’s cellphone, the Upper Darby police obtained geographic coordinates for his location. This information verified that the fugitive was indeed hiding in Upper Darby, but that left quite an area to be searched. Police then took the coordinates and entered them into Google Earth. The computer program narrowed down the possible area to the 500 block of 69^th Street. With this condensed search radius, about six officers began going house-to-house, knocking on doors, and asking residents if they knew Johnson.

The Capture

When officers reached one particular home, a woman came to the door. Asked if she knew Johnson, she hesitated, and then reported that he was her son and was sleeping on her couch. Police entered the residence, arrested Johnson, charged him with being a fugitive, and placed him in jail until North Versailles police could come to pick him up. The infant was also found in the home and was unharmed. The child was transported to a nearby hospital to be evaluated, placed in the temporary custody of Children and Youth Services, and eventually reunited with his mother.

This incident is a classic example of how GPS tracking technology can help police departments and other law enforcement agencies. Without the technology, police would have a lengthy search lasting days or weeks and might never have located Johnson. Instead, what could have become an extended manhunt was quickly resolved through the use of a GPS-equipped cell phone and Google Earth. With positive example like this one, it is very likely that GPS devices will play an even greater role in law enforcement in the days to come.

Global Positioning for Fire Hydrants

May 7th, 2013

GPS tracking will soon be utilized for locating the most optimum hydrants for fire departments to use in case of fire. The city council of Frostproof, FL has recently approved a contract allowing a private company to map each of its nearly 170 hydrants. In addition, the contractor will provide other useful information and service each hydrant systematically.

A two-fold plan

Frostproof’s plan for using GPS tracking for fire hydrants is twofold: first, it will make hydrants easy to locate in case of fire while giving further vital information such as the results of the most recent water flow tests. Second, while the outside contractor is mapping hydrants, it will also paint, reseal, lubricate, test and tag the hydrants and take responsibility for reporting the service records. The cost for performing these services will range from $25 to $28.50 per hydrant, depending upon whether the city decides to pay extra for metal tags.

Higher efficiency

Mapping the Frostproof hydrants promises greater efficiency on a number of levels. Previously, it was the city’s responsibility to paint and periodically “exercise” (flush) all of the hydrants by opening the caps and valves. When the private company logs the hydrants’ global position, however, it will also test their water flow and perform maintenance such as painting, resealing, and lubricating. Each hydrant will then be numbered and labeled with a metal tag which records the water flow for the most recent test. This information will help the fire department determine which hydrant is optimal for putting out local fires.

Accountability

There are several advantages of having an outside vendor test and map the city’s hydrants. It will ensure that each hydrant is tested. The results will then be reported to the Insurance Services Office to secure the city’s fire protection rating, a records requirement for the city. In addition, the private company would be held responsible if anything were to go wrong with a hydrant.

Improved system

Frostproof’s fire chief is optimistic about the city’s plan to put hydrants on the map. He believes that the system of locating the best hydrants for a fire by GPS technology and knowing the flow test results of each one will be a significant improvement over the current way of maintaining and locating hydrants.