Rocky Mountain Tracking » police

A New GPS Twist On An Old Bullet Proof Vest

Admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:11:59 +0000

Laipac Technology recently unveiled a new spin on the old bullet proof vest. In addition to stopping bullets, these new bullet proof vests implement GPS technology. This way, a team can track the movement of officers wearing the vests. In addition to GPS technology, Laipac Technology’s bullet proof vests also include several body sensors built into the vests. The vests are powered by a rechargeable internal battery woven into the material of the vest.

The primary purpose of including GPS technology in a bullet proof vest, is to allow more visibility of the officers wearing the vests. The tactical advantage presented by GPS-enabled bullet proof vests, is quite significant. The vests act as little beacon signals, allowing higher-ups to watch the movement of police, soldiers or special forces in real time. Not only can officials know when a medical team is needed, it can also help them distribute back-up forces more effectively.

When a bullet hits the vest, the body sensors alert the home office immediately. The home office can then access the GPS location of the vest, to send medical help to the exact location. Prior to this technology, officers depended on radio communication. In high-stress combat situations, officers would need to report any shots fired and location via radio. Although police are thoroughly trained in radio communication, it requires that someone in the area be in a position where they can talk into their radio, which is not always possible.

The vests are being produced in a variety of strengths. A vest made from Kevlar is capable of stopping a bullet from a .44 magnum handgun, presumably for police officers. More advanced models designed for military use can stop bullets from a Russian AK47. The strongest vest is designed to work against a 7.62x54mm bullet from a Dragunov sniper rifle. The costs of these vests has not been released to the public.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

GPS Tracking Bracelets Always Win

Admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:29:20 +0000

A GPS tracking bracelet has two main purposes. The first is to help authorities keep track of parolees. The second is to alert authorities when said bracelet has been tampered with. When a tracking bracelet is slapped on the write or ankle of a criminal, a list of GPS tracking rules and warnings are read to the criminal in question. Sadly, few criminals adhere to these warnings, though GPS tracking bracelets never fail — as one Robert Gregory recently discovered.

After receiving an alert that a criminal’s GPS monitoring bracelet had been tampered with, officials in Racine, Wisconsin, arrested Robert Gregory.

Officers responded after receiving the alert, and found that a damaged clip that is supposed to keep the bracelet together. Officers found that barely any force at all was required to remove the bracelet: rather, a light tug sent it clattering to the ground.

Gregory of course denies any wrongdoing, but unfortunately for him, the bracelet did as it was intended and alerted officers the moment force was applied in attempts to remove the clip, an obvious shot at eluding police and their attempts to keep tabs on him. Because of his attempted escape, he is now charged with a felony, which, if found guilty, leads to a $10,000 fine or a 3.5 year prison sentence.

Article Written by Khristen Foss

German Police System Hacked: Lives Now In Danger

Admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:58:40 +0000

Hackers have broken into a GPS tracking system used by the German police to track down suspects of terrorism and other serious crimes. The potential fallout from the hack is huge. In the worst-case scenario, hundreds of confidential investigation documents could be released on the Internet, giving hundreds of criminals the tip they need to stay out of the reach of the law. The results of such an information breach can only be imagined, but certainly among them would be more serious crimes that could have been prevented.

The group who hacked the system calls themselves the “No Name Crew.” Their beef, apparently, is “constant monitoring” by the police, and they wanted to turn the tables. Unfortunately, what might be just computer games for them is potentially deadly for police officers and innocent citizens alike.

The hacked system, called “Patras,” collects information from GPS units in cars and on cellular phones. State, federal, and customs officers use the data to locate suspects. This is a vital part of modern police investigation. Of course, if the information they have is published, all the data they have so far on each case will be moot. They will, in many cases, be back to square one.

Already, the No Name Crew has published a document of classified communications information, including phone numbers and email addresses of state offices.The police claim the document is outdated, but the No Name Crew says they have more. They say they’ve seen “every dirty detail” of communication from email to confidential data. Police have made one arrest of a 23-year-old man, after the hacking group threatened to release more information if anyone was arrested.

The group first hacked into the system in September 2010, but they remained undetected until early 2011. During that time, they injected a claimed 42 trojans into the system and used the spyware to collect the data they now hold hostage. Police had used a cheaper, standard version of XAMPP Apache that was known to be less secure than needed, easy for the hackers to get around. The software package warned that its default settings were not good for “security” or “production.”

Lesson learned: vital data calls for greater protection. If the bad guys know that you know where they are, it doesn’t do you much good.

Article Written by Kadence Vyra

Florida Car Theft Rates Lowest Since 1967

Admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:31:54 +0000

You’ve seen it on TV before: grainy black and white images of people stealing cars (or at least attempting to) while the cops sit back and watch it all transpire, awaiting the perfect moment to arrest them. That moment is usually when the ignition fails (all thanks to the ignition kill the police attach to the vehicle) and the car coasts to a stop, the thief in a panic.

This moment is very real, and thanks to the efforts of the Cape Coral Police Department and other counties in Florida, car theft rates haven’t been this low since 1967.

Authorities use a “bait vehicle” complete with camera and GPS tracking device. This vehicle usually ranks high on the stolen car list. Thieves often find these bait vehicles too tempting, which allows police to follow a thief’s every move. Eventually, thieves are apprehended, and police use this method of trapping car thieves as a warning to others. So far, this tactic has worked.

The bait car strategy has lowered the vehicle theft rate 31% in Charlotte County alone, which is a considerable amount.

This is good news for Florida car owners. Various cities and counties throughout Florida have long been car theft targets. Now, police (and citizens) have a way to fight back.

Article Written by Khristen Foss

Serious Accident in Mobile, Alabama, Remains a Mystery

Admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:27:16 +0000

In Mobile, Alabama, an accident recently occurred which left passersby gaping in shock. A police cruiser approaching a red light shot through the intersection, colliding with two vehicles and left five people seriously injured. Following this accident, police tried to piece together the scenario. Apparently, the officer at fault was on call, although witnesses made it clear that they heard no sirens and saw no lights.

How a pickup truck ended up in a field far from the intersection, however, is still a mystery. What really happened?

Mobile police have made it clear that they intend to use every means possible to discover the truth about the circumstances surrounding this accident. Currently, their greatest hope is that the information provided by the GPS tracking device on the police cruiser will shed light on the situation. According to one officer, Chris Levy, this device can yield valuable data concerning the vehicle’s speed, location, and distance.

GPS tracking is the wave of the future when it comes to solving fuzzy accident cases. In the Mobile case, there are many questions yet to be answered. Why didn’t the officer turn on his siren? Why did he speed through a red light?

How were the other vehicles involved? Once officials have analyzed the information provided by the cruiser’s tracker, they will likely be able to start answering these difficult questions. The facts do not lie, and they can bring the truth to light.

Article Written by Janice Grover

TomTom Sold Customer GPS Information To Police

Admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:49:02 +0000

GPS tracking is an incredibly innovative and versatile technology. It has brought new meaning to mobile visibility and organization. It has been used to save lives by improving emergency response times, and locating the cell phones of people lost in the wilderness. In the wrong hands, however, the increased visibility that GPS tracking provides could bring us closer to the dystopian vision of Orwell’s “1984″.

A Holland based satellite navigation (satnav) company, called TomTom, recently admitted to that it sold the GPS tracking data of its customers. Though it was not the intention of TomTom, the Dutch police have been using this data to plan speed traps.

TomTom’s chief executive, Harold Goddijn, sent out an apology email to all its users, promising to never release the data to Holland police again. “We are now aware that the police have used traffic information that you have helped to treat to place speed cameras at dangerous locations where the average speed is higher than the legally allowed speed limit,” he explained.

According to TomTom, the data was sold with the intention of helping city planners build better road plans, by evaluating the flaws of the current plans. Harold Goddin adds, “We have learned that police have been using that information to identify road stretches where people are driving too fast to put up cameras and make speed traps. We don’t like that because our customers don’t like that. We will prevent that type of usage of our data in the future.”

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

Justice Department Fighting for Fewer Restrictions on GPS Tracking

Admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 13:07:35 +0000

The supreme court is currently determining whether or not police need a warrant in order to track individuals on public roads. The Obama justice department has recently been pushing for warrantless GPS tracking to be considered legal, as someone’s location on a public road is considered “public knowledge”. After all, the justice department has stated that if someone is on a public road, it is not considered private or sensitive information *where* that person is located.

The justice department would also like the right to track someone’s movement on public roads to be legal even if it uses “scientific enhancements” such as GPS devices. This, according to [PC World][1] is the crux of why the justice department’s actions are considered controversial.

The justice department has also stated, in a 121-page petition, that the cost of installing GPS devices is no longer an issue when it comes to the limiting factors of GPS device installation. GPS devices can even be launched by darts, the DOJ said.

Critics of the DOJ’s actions in this instance cite the fourth amendment, and claim that tracking individuals without a warrant and without their knowledge constitutes unlawful search or seizure.

According to the DOJ, “Prompt resolution of this conflict is critically important to law enforcement efforts throughout the United States. The court of appeals’ decision seriously impedes the government’s use of GPS devices at the beginning stages of an investigation when officers are gathering evidence to establish probable cause and provides no guidance on the circumstances under which officers must obtain a warrant before placing a GPS device on a vehicle.”

Article Written by Greg Minton

Police Officer Sentenced After Illegally Tracking Ex

Admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:15:18 +0000

A Costa Mesa police officer was recently caught tracking an ex-girlfriend. Using a police issued GPS tracking device, the police officer in-question tracked his ex regularly. This puts a whole new spin on the “I just happened to be in the neighborhood” line.

When the 32-year old woman kept running into her ex-boyfriend, she became slightly suspicious. After having her car inspected, she discovered that a GPS tracking device had been affixed to the bottom of her car. She then tracked the device back to the Costa Mesa Police Department.

The former officer pleaded “no contest” to the charges he currently faces. If convicted, he could face up to six months in jail. In addition to potential jail time, the police officer in question has been ordered to contribute a tidy sum to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

Many people are under the false impression that police officers can use GPS trackers to track anyone. Clearly, this is not the case.

Even though many police officers have access to GPS tracking devices, these trackers can only be used for official police purposes. As with any other property that belongs to a police department, GPS tracking devices cannot be used for personal use.

Does the fact that police have access to GPS trackers make you nervous? How do you feel about police tracking?

Sound off below!

Article Written by Harriette Halepis

Police Track Getaway Vehicle with GPS

Admin — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:00:22 +0000

Kevin Cheeks was convicted in Queens Supreme Court for holding up the Shinki Nail Salon in Oakland Gardens, Queens. His downfall was using a distinctive company-owned getaway vehicle. The vehicle was an ambulette equipped with a GPS tracking system, which police used to locate and arrest him.

Sigma Transportation Inc. employed Kevin Cheeks, a 44-year-old repeat offender, for a grand total of two months before this incident. Cheeks used his day off to rob the nail salon. According to witnesses, he pretended to have a gun in his pocket and forced three employees and four customers to the back of the salon. He proceeded to take $300 from the cash register, as well as his hostages’ valuables.

One of the employees took advantage of an opportunity to escape when Cheeks realized he’d left his cellphone behind and went back for it. Even after the Cheeks threatened to kill anyone who called for help, this employee bravely escaped to a nearby diner and report the robbery. The employee spotted Cheeks walking past the restaurant and drive away in a van marked “Sigma ambulette number 16.”

Apparently, Kevin Cheeks was unaware that most ambulettes are equipped with a GPS tracking system, a detail that the police had not missed. They tracked the vehicle, which confirmed that his van was near the salon during the robbery. The tracking records showed he then traveled to The Bronx and then home, to South Ozone Park. Police were waiting at his company garage in West Hempstead, LI, where he finally returned the vehicle and was arrested.

Defense attorney, Richard Brown said, “the defendant will have a long time behind bars to ponder how a simple GPS vehicle-tracking device and a few mouse clicks led to his arrest and conviction.” The evidence from the GPS tracking service, along with video surveillance from the salon was presented during Cheek’s week long trial, where the jury took a mere two hours to convict him. He will be sentenced next month, where he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

GPS Tracking Coming to Nepal Police Force

Admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:00:21 +0000

The Nepal Police force could start using GPS tracking technology in order to catch criminals, according to the República. More specifically, the proposed program would be tracking suspecting criminals with state-of-the-art Global Positioning System (GPS) devices.

These new standards for using GPS tracking devices to track Nepali criminals would simplify the warrant-obtaining process for Nepal Police. GPS tracking has already been utilized in a few select cases, such as on Kumar Ghante, released in October after completing a 17-month prison term for attempted murder.

The Ghante experiment has been a success, which has been an impetus for the Nepal Police to expand the program. “The effectiveness of the first experiment has encouraged us to take steps in that direction,” Senior Superintendent of Police Rana Bahadur Chand told Repúblic.

Criminals, under the Nepal Police GPS tracking system, would have to keep the GPS tracking devices near them at all times as a condition of their parole. This will enable police to keep track of them and to reduce the risk of repeat crimes.

The Nepal Police is being cautious about the program, taking due course to prevent violations of privacy rights, Chand says, since one violation of privacy rights would be enough to end the public’s confidence in the program and in the Nepal police force.

The law in Nepal will not have to change in order to allow police to track criminals with GPS tracking devices. The laws currently allow police to use methods they deem necessary to track criminals. Chand states that the Nepal Police is simply exercising this authority while using state-of-the-art technology.

Article Written by Greg Minton