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How to Catch a Thief: There’s an App for That

June 14th, 2013

Citizens in many cities are beginning to take crime stopping into their own hands, quite literally. Victims of theft have started tracking down their assailants by using GPS-enabled devices, such as smart phones, to follow the route the mugger took.

For several years, GPS has been used in car navigation and handheld navigation units for hunters and hikers. But with the popularity of smart phones, GPS has become an ubiquitous part of modern culture. Many new phones come pre-installed with GPS devices that can be activated using the provider’s services. Smart phone online stores also offer downloadable apps to trace the location of the phone and its users.

Apps to Protect

Security measures for smart phones involve methods such as locking down the system, emitting alarms, and even deleting all information upon command.

But beyond these security measures, GPS technology gives the best chance of tracking down the stolen phone. A GPS satellite pinpoints the signal, and the app broadcasts the cell phone’s coordinates. Users of GPS-enabled phones can find their stolen items in several ways:

Apps can text the owner the location of the phone as it travels.
Apps can display the approximate location of the phone by using cell phone network towers and GPS.
Finally, some apps also integrate with traditional auto GPS systems, thereby allowing users to use current car systems to do the tracking.

Many muggers do not realize the power of the products they are stealing. When they steal the device, the signal continues to be emitted by the GPS. Police can use this information to follow the route of the robber in real time and then apprehend him on the spot. This saves time in searching for the crook and chasing him on foot through alleys and intersections.

Problems of GPS Use

Lost phone tracking can present problems for police. To follow the GPS navigation route, the phone may still need to be turned on and connected online. However, wi-fi connections may be weak or transmitted for distances larger than the actual location of the perpetrator and the phone.

Also, although the public has the tools to track perpetrators, that does not mean they should track down a thief by themselves. Police discourage GPS users from pursuing an assailant themselves, since confrontation between victims and attackers can turn violent.

Potential of GPS Use

Law enforcement is beginning to use GPS in other tasks too: tracking stolen money from banks, following pill pushers with hidden GPS in narcotics bottles, and tracking kidnappers through childrens’ ID tags. GPS paves the way to reclaiming stolen property. Citizens can help fight crime with just their fingers and a smartphone GPS. Police can trace criminals with the same technology on a larger and a more precise scale. GPS is making the streets safer for everyone.

CA: GPS Tampering Bill Given the Green Light by First Legislative Committee

June 12th, 2013

A bill that would punish those sex offenders found frequently removing their GPS tracking devices by sending them back to state prison jumped its first hurdle, passing the first legislative committee in late April.

Democratic leaders operating with Governor Brown’s prison realignment plan in mind passed the bill after the GPS tampering bill was amended to make first offenses punishable by serving 180 days in county jail.

What if there is a second offense? This would land a criminal in county jail for a year. If they still don’t learn their lesson, a third offense sends the parolee right back to prison. This would affect a portion of California’s 8,000 paroled sex offenders who are forced to wear a GPS tracking ankle bracelet. Domestic stalking, gang activity, and other parolees are not affected.

“To me this is not an issue that deals with realignment. It deals with the integrity of our GPS monitoring system,” said Sen. Ted Lieu to the Senate Public Safety Committee right before voting on the bill. He pointed to a federally funded study that demonstrates sex offenders monitored by GPS device are not as likely to commit another crime while on parole.

Law enforcement agencies support the amended measure, while public defenders are still deciding where they stand.

A federal court order has asked California to reduce the numbers held in state prisons. Gov. Brown must figure out a way to remove 9,000 inmates from the system. His realignment plan addresses this issue, cutting the prison population by over 20,000 and assigning those committing lower-level felonies to county jail, as well as having counties deal with parole violations. Some counties weren’t able to comply as space in their jails were just as tight, letting them loose into the general population and resulting in the removal of GPS tracking anklets they were ordered to wear.

Just how many are tampering with their GPS devices? The LA Times asked for this number from CA state corrections officials, and found that over 4,900 warrants were filed against paroled sex offenders for the act of disabling their GPS devices in the first 15 months after the realignment plan was put in place.

MA: Cops Slow to Implement GPS in Cruisers

June 11th, 2013

So many different industries rely upon GPS tracking devices for their fleets: trucking companies; construction companies; transportation services; delivery drivers; and law enforcement to name a few. Most business owners who operate a fleet of vehicles knows that the best way to ensure they are saving money while keeping their employees safe and honest is to rely on GPS tracking.

When it comes to emergency response and law enforcement, GPS tracking offers swifter response times and reduced costs. Dispatchers will attest to this. However, in MA, it seems the value of GPS tracking of police cars i yet to be understood.

Trouble Implementing GPS

In Central Massachusetts, Westminster, Holden, Leominster, and Ashburnham are the few out of 20 police departments within the state that use GPS devices in their cruisers. Recently, Lowell officers agreed to the installation of the devices in their vehicles.

When you look at the entire Central MA region, however, you see that there are some cities that have begun to implement the system but are unfinished. For example, Templeton purchased GPS devices, but contract negotiations are holding up the activation process according to Chief David H. Whitaker.

According to Fitchburg Police spokesman Sgt. Glenn Fossa, GPS devices were installed in their cruisers over a year ago, but have not been activated.

In Shrewsbury, police Chief James J. Hester Jr. points out that although they implemented GPS seven years ago, technical difficulties have forced the system offline. Apparently, the company that outfitted his department is no longer in business, so their IT department is looking for an economical replacement.

The Value of GPS

While some officers find GPS devices a way to spy on their actions, most of them will agree that it is a great way to keep officers safe and out of trouble. An example: Westminster Police Chief Salvatore Albert said a civilian accused an officer of speeding after her vehicle, pulling out of a parking lot, crashed into the cruiser. The GPS device was referenced, and it was discovered that officer was actually driving below the speed limit.

There are those departments that use them to keep officers from conducting personal business while in uniform, according to Mr. Donnelly, former prosecutor in the Worcester district attorney’s office. However, police unions have fought against this. They are especially against undercover officers using them, as well as those cops that must take a cruiser home with them.

Said Mr. Donnelly, “The question becomes, with that, is that public record? I might not want my name and address known.”

It remains to be seen if all of Massachusetts will catch on, or if they will dismiss the GPS tracking device as a useful tool to protect their officers’ reputations and their lives as well.

Lubbock, TX: Burglars Nabbed Thanks To Tablets’ GPS

June 9th, 2013

Yet again, we feature the story of a criminal who obviously does not understand the technology he has stolen, ultimately leading to his capture. Three Dallas men were captured on numerous charges of burglary in April after the GPS device built into tablets led Lubbock police right to them.

“They stole the tablets at the first business they broke into. The tablets had GPS, and that led us to them,” Sgt. Jonathan Stewart, Lubbock police spokesman, said.

According to Stewart, investigators searching through bank bags and other stolen items they had upon their arrest near a liquor store on US 87 connected them to five separate business burglaries. The tablets with GPS technology were discovered among the stolen goods. Investigation is still underway.

The men (Quinton Quontrail Brown, 27; Kendrick Raynard Johnson, 28; and Kendrick D. Lawton, 28) were taken to the Lubbock County Detention Center and booked. Each of the men were charged with five felony counts of burglary of a building, one count of third-degree felony organized crime, and one count of fleeing on foot, a misdemeanor. Bail has not yet been set.

Their string of crime began at 7:04am on April 7, with the report of an alarm triggered at a business in the 5800 block of 50th Street. The men were eventually captured following a foot chase. The chase ensued after they had broken into Pinkie’s liquor store on the southeast side of the city.

Each of the men have prior convictions on their record. Brown was charged with burglary of a building a total of eight times between 2005 and 2011, and has pleaded guilty to charges of theft of a firearm, as well as possession of a firearm by a felon. Johnson has plea agreements for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle as well as theft, and Lawton’s record features evading arrest and interfering with a public servant.

Although one would like to think these criminals would learn a lesson from all this, it’s doubtful. At the very least, they might have learned to leave tablets, or any device featuring built-in GPS device, alone.

GPS Monitoring May Reduce Prison Crowding

June 6th, 2013

Prison crowding is becoming a major problem in some areas, but GPS tracking may offer a solution. Releasing some inmates with GPS ankle bracelets could provide a way to supervise inmates while not taking up bed space in correctional facilities.

The Difficulty

Prison overcrowding has posed difficulties in many parts of the country, but particularly in the state of California. There are a number of factors that have contributed to this problem. The first is a federal court decree issued more than twenty years ago that requires the sheriff to have a bed for every prison inmate. If no beds are available, some inmates must be released early to make room for more prisoners. To choose the “federal kickouts,” as they are called, the sheriff’s department selects low-level offenders who have served a majority of their time.

In 2011, California passed Assembly Bill 109. This prison realignment legislation dictates that offenders who have committed non-violent, non-sexual crimes must serve out their sentences in local correctional facilities rather than state prisons. While this law was designed to reduce the crowding in state prisons, its passing seems to have increased the congestion in local facilities. One sheriff reported that his county’s facilities were so full last year that nearly 7,000 inmates were given early release.

The Proposal

In response to this problem, the sheriff has proposed the Secured Electronic Confinement Program. Under this plan, inmates who have been arraigned and have already served at least thirty days can be released with electronic monitoring. The monitoring entails attaching a GPS tracking ankle bracelet to each individual and performing weekly checks to ensure compliance with numerous conditions for their release. Inmates hoping to participate in the program must complete an extensive eight-page application.

The Benefits

In addition to the obvious benefits of reducing prison crowding, this program could have some other advantages. The close supervision will help to alert individuals of upcoming court dates and should reduce the approximately 30% rate of missed court appearances among early releases. In addition, the application fees for the program could create more than twenty thousand dollars of revenue for the department.

This system seems to have the potential to help decrease prison crowding without endangering public safety or removing offenders’ responsibility to pay for their crimes. Although any early release program can raise concerns or opposition, GPS tracking of these individuals strikes a good balance between addressing the problem while minimizing any negative ramifications.

Controversy in OK Over GPS Tracking of Police

June 1st, 2013

In Lowell, Oklahoma, patrolmen and patrolwomen work through a union–and because of that, negotiating can be a tricky process. When a new initiative came about that would add new levels of accountability to Lowell patrolmen, the union raised its eyebrows: That move involved tracking all police officers’ vehicles with GPS devices.

The Burden of Transparency

The use of GPS in law enforcement, for better or worse, is starting to swing both ways. Yes, GPS tracking has become undoubtedly useful during investigations. Tracking a suspect’s vehicle with a GPS device is exponentially more cost-effective than an elaborate tail involving multiple vehicles and perhaps even air support. The thing is, GPS tracking of police officers’ vehicles additionally adds a new level of transparency to the people: Vehicle movements can be monitored to ensure safe driving, conformity to regulations, and proving that police reports are accurate.

Unions and Accountability

When it comes to unions, however, such changes are potentially unwelcome. What if that data is used to build evidence that would lead to a disciplinary act against a police officer and union member? What about the atmosphere of paranoia that ubiquitous police car tracking would provide–the feeling that someone, somewhere is watching all the time? How should a union react to the idea of GPS tracking?

In the case of the Lowell Patrolmen’s Union, the reaction was to negotiate higher pay for officers. In order to guarantee support of the tracking program, officers received a quarter an hour bump in pay.

Benefits of GPS Police Tracking

When it comes to GPS tracking in the police department, the knife cuts both ways: GPS trackers are fantastic law enforcement tools. But they are also quickly becoming essential tools for ensuring that our nation’s law enforcement officers perform their task within the boundaries of the law. At the end of the day, those devices make not only our streets safer, but the officers who drive police vehicles as well. In addition, the simple fleet tracking functions of GPS devices ensure that government-bought police cruiser vehicles are being driven safely, in a manner which maximizes the vehicle’s operational life. GPS tracking is, then, not only a two-edged sword, but a win-win for law enforcement and for citizens.

Busted Bus Thieves

June 1st, 2013

Where are Our Buses?

That’s what some transportation supervisors at a Chicago school district were asking when they discovered their buses were missing one morning. Thieves stole eight buses from the school district bus port. But what the bus breakers didn’t know was that the buses were equipped with GPS tracking devices.

Once law enforcement became aware of the situation, they were able to track the position of the bus by its GPS signals. Unfortunately, the stolen buses had already met a crunching fate. Upon arriving at the scene, police found the vehicles gutted and the metal scrapped high in piles.

Breaking it Down

The night before, the bus jackers drove the buses to a local scrap yard, broke them down, and flattened them for use as scrap metal. The cost of the few tons of sheet metal alone was over $10,000, and the steel engine parts would have brought even more.

While theft of several tons of metal in buses is rare, thieves have become more resourceful in their tactics than in the past. The price of metal has risen, and along with it further demand. To meet this, some thieves have resorted to stealing objects such as manhole covers, copper piping, and other metals used in construction of maintenance systems and vehicles.

Despite the crunching conclusion to the search, the location of the stolen buses would not have been possible without the buses’ GPS units that transmitted their location at the junkyard.

Making GPS Happen

A handful of companies provide the GPS bus tracking available to schools and universities. Some buses can be purchased with pre-installed GPS, while others can be retrofitted to accommodate GPS through a separately purchased installation bundle.

School districts purchase GPS for several reasons. Officials may hope to save money with GPS by analyzing the routes that the buses take. The creation of more efficient routes could get kids home quicker and save time and money for school employees and taxpayers.

In addition, the systems can monitor the driving safety of workers and show their location if a problem occurs. Some systems even emit a GPS signal that allows parents to see at what time the bus will arrive.

GPS Tracking Results

The school’s GPS systems allowed police to halt an apparent crime ring. Police arrested one person and believe they know the names of the other perpetrators. Law officers attribute a good part of the criminal apprehension to the school for implementing the GPS program.

Keep on Tracking

The use of GPS for school transportation will likely grow along with the use of GPS for police tracking of stolen vehicles. Through the experience of the broken buses, both school officials and law enforcement learned how to apply their knowledge to helping others navigate future paths.

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.

California Says No To Handheld GPS While Driving

May 28th, 2013

Thanks to numerous campaigns against texting while driving, the act is quickly becoming illegal nationwide. This leads to the question: what about fiddling with the GPS on your phone while driving? Yes, you need to get from point A to point B, but isn’t this like texting, where your attention is not on the road where it should be? California says yes, and has passed a law making it illegal to operate the GPS navigation app on your phone unless it is hands-free.

What does the ruling state specifically? If you are using your phone in any way while driving, even if you are searching for your destination within your GPS navigation app, you will be receiving a ticket. The court recognizes that people need to use their GPS while driving, but don’t feel a person should be glancing down to type in a destination or scroll ahead on the map. If you want to perform these tasks, you’d better pull over!

Of course, if your phone can navigate you completely hands-free, go right ahead. Put your Bluetooth device to work and rely on voice control to use the GPS navigation function. However, a recent study put a hands-free phone to the test in terms of safety, and found that even hands-free brings an element of risk to your journey. Why? Your brain is paying attention to the phone rather than the road.

As with any law, there are a few loopholes. If you drive a car with a built-in touchscreen GPS device, you’re probably just as unsafe as you are using your smartphone. No matter if it’s built in to your dashboard: you are still looking away from the road to input an address or looking for a restaurant. It’s a safe bet that automakers will be focusing on voice-controlled models in the future to stay one step ahead of lawmakers and assure the safety of those who drive their cars.

What do you think about this law? Do you rely on your smartphone to get you where you need to go? Will this affect you at all?

Federal Appeals Court Hears Warrantless GPS Tracking Case

May 23rd, 2013

It’s the issue that just won’t go away, and for good reason. Many Americans are passionate about their privacy, and this case puts that well-protected privacy at risk. In March, the 3^rd US Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from both the ACLU and the Obama administration, and must decide whether or not to allow the act of placing GPS tracking devices onto the vehicles of suspected criminals without a warrant.

This all stems from the Jones case, where the court ruled then that it was unconstitutional to do so – it goes against the Fourth Amendment, after all. The Obama administration jumped in and requested an appeal to overturn the case. This would give them full reign to rely on continuous GPS tracking for suspected criminals, without the need to prove probable cause to a judge.

What The Obama Administration Believes

According to those within the federal government who support this, they want exceptions for law enforcement to be able to conduct certain searches and seizures. The list includes criminals on probation and students, with these searches and seizures conducted in the name of securing US borders or apprehending suspected narcotics dealers.

The Obama administration went before the court and said that GPS tracking of citizens without a warrant should be an option based on probable cause alone, whether the opinion of federal or local law enforcement. No judge should have to decide.

What They Said

Lawyers for Obama said, “Requiring a warrant and probable cause before officers may attach a GPS device to a vehicle, which is inherently mobile and may no longer be at the location observed when the warrant is obtained, would seriously impede the government’s ability to investigate drug trafficking, terrorism, and other crimes. Law enforcement officers could not use GPS devices to gather information to establish probable cause, which is often the most productive use of such devices. Thus,, the balancing of law enforcement interests with the minimally intrusive nature of GPS installation and monitoring makes clear that a showing of reasonable suspicion suffices to permit use of a ‘slap-on’ device like that used in this case.”

The ACLU Speaks Out

The ACLU holds an entirely differing opinion. According to Catherine Crump, ACLU attorney, the warrant “is particularly important when it comes to GPS tracking because the technology is cheap, convenient, difficult to detect, and highly intrusive…given how easy and inexpensive it is to track a suspect using GPS, neither cost nor effort will stop the government in using it in cases where it isn’t reasonable. The courts must impose strict limitations on the use of this technology in order to protect the right of all Americans to go about their daily lives without being tracked by the government.”

Do you side with the government or the ACLU on this issue? We’d love to get your feeback!