Rocky Mountain Tracking

By Greg Bartlett

Truancy is a serious problem in many school districts. Traditionally it has been a difficult problem to deal with since neither the parents nor the teachers monitor students at all times. In some states, however, that situation may be about to change. A recent pilot program in Texas experimented with equipping students who have truancy records with a GPS tracking device to help keep them in school. So far, the program has been a success.

The GPS tracking device carried by students in the pilot program allows them to be monitored at all times during the school day. The transmitter sends signals at intervals to a computer and the information can be viewed in real time or as a report at the end of the day. So far, the schools using the devices have been pleased with their performance and plan to expand the pilot programs to be implemented as part of the regular truancy procedures.

As other states begin to follow Texas in making GPS tracking part of their standard operating procedure for truant students, school leadership will appreciate the diverse options available when purchasing a GPS tracking device. Models and capabilities vary widely, and as the technology develops, GPS units will become smaller and smarter. Current models allow operators to set up zone perimeters, which, when crossed, will send an alert to the receiving software or to a cell phone. If a student tries to leave the property during the school day, school officials will know immediately.

Knowledge that their whereabouts can be determined at any point seems to give students with a tendency toward truancy a reason to stay in school. A truancy judge determines which students need to wear the devices and for how long. Parents of students in the pilot programs have backed the program as well, recognizing the need for their kids to stay in school in order to get the best start in life. With nearly one-third of high school students nationwide dropping out of school before graduation, the use of a GPS tracking device for truants could represent a significant shift in the ability of school officials to encourage attendance.

The data for high school dropouts is sobering: high school graduates earn approximately $10,000 less than their counterparts each year once they enter the workforce, adding up to nearly $319 billion in wages lost over the course of their careers. If equipping students with a GPS tracking device can alter those numbers even a small amount, the investment will be well worth it.

By Harriette Halepis

Source Acquired via San Antonio News — In January of 2010, certain schools within Bryan, Texas, began tracking truant students using GPS tracking devices. Due to a decree handed down by Justice of the Peace Tommy Munoz, those students who were considered truant were slapped with GPS bracelets and tracked throughout the daylight hours.

Many were sceptical as to whether or not this GPS tracking system would work, but as the months passed the class attendance within those Bryan, Texas, schools began to rise. This prompted other schools throughout the Texas area to adopt similar methods. San Antonio is one area that quickly adopted the GPS tracking system, and (as the San Antonio News reports) it’s one system that is proving to be highly effective.

Districts within the San Antonio area were simply “…looking for a solution…” when they came across the Bryan, Texas, case. Shortly thereafter, “…they tracked down a pilot program that gave them 25 GPS units and 12 weeks to try them out….” The result has been astounding. For the first time in a long time “…the students have been going to school…”

Which students get to carry GPS bracelets with them at all times? Well, that’s up for the counts to decide. Those students who prove to be more truant than the rest will find a court ordered GPS sentence, while students who attend class daily will go without being tracked.

The students who are forced to carry the GPS tracking device with them must check-in with an authority figure at different points during the day, and lying about one’s whereabouts won’t work - different codes tell authorities where a student is at all times, so there’s no escaping the GPS system.

Texas is proving to be a flagship state as far as tracking truant students goes, but it’s only a matter of time before other states begin to adopt this way of keeping kids in class. Thus far, nothing is working better at keeping kids in school than the constant electronic watchdog that is the GPS device.

More organizations are benefiting from the location pinpointing ability of GPS tracking devices. One of the more innovative uses has been implemented by a Texas county to keep kids from skipping school. Offenders must appear before the Justice of the Peace, where they are given a GPS tracking device that they must carry during a probationary period.

The GPS tracking device monitors the location of the students at any given time, and enforcement personnel can check at any time to ensure that they are attending classes as they should be. While traditional methods such as mentoring, court orders, and jail time for repeat offenders have yielded spotty results, the new method has resulted in 95% of monitored students attending classes as they are supposed to.

GPS tracking has proved useful for other law enforcement purposes as well. Departments routinely use the devices to monitor paroled sex offenders and have also seen a measure of success in using GPS vehicle tracking to keep an eye on suspected drug traffickers and other criminal suspects. While controversy exists over whether or not the technology violates privacy, the court system has upheld the use of GPS tracking in general, although some states require a warrant for tracking suspects without their knowledge.

The benefit provided by GPS tracking to law enforcement offices includes the ability to monitor multiple suspects or parolees without the need for additional manpower. They can also assist police with finding stolen property including automobiles and construction equipment, two prime targets for theft. Already strained departments can put their resources to the best use possible instead of placing officers on numerous stakeouts and information gathering assignments. Proponents of the technological solution say that placing a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s car is no different from assigning an officer to follow that suspect, since the transmitter cannot give any information beyond what could be gathered with the naked eye.

As more GPS tracking uses surface, the courts will undoubtedly have to contend with the constitutional question of whether GPS surveillance equates with unreasonable search. For now, departments are singing the praises of the devices, since they save not only manpower, but also limited department funds.  More cases will undoubtedly be brought before state judicial systems as time progresses, but in the interim, the public can expect to see more innovative uses of the technology cropping up in law enforcement departments across the country.

By Greg Bartlett

When it comes to truancy, there’s at least one town in Texas that’s taking matters into its own hands. High school students who deliberately miss class in Bryan, Texas will be given hand-held GPS trackers to encourage them to return to school. Brazos County Justice of the Peace Tommy Munoz says that this measure will show students that breaking laws—even small ones—has consequences. By implementing this “Attendance Improvement Management” (AIM, for short), Munoz hopes to deter kids from repeatedly ignoring truancy regulations, which can result in more severe punishments like mandatory ankle bracelet GPS trackers or even a trip to juvenile court.

County judges often have a great deal of latitude in assigning punishments or behavior improvement programs to kids who commit lesser offences. The law allows a judge some flexibility to determine what may or may not encourage someone to get back on track. Many view GPS trackers as a simple preventative measure, and in the case of this town, the devices are small enough to be placed in a book bag alongside a cell phone. Munoz ruled out ankle bracelet GPS trackers since he didn’t want the program to seem like a humiliating, kiddie version of parole.

But for a problem such as truancy, technology can never be the full solution. Munoz also requires that repeat offenders attend counseling sessions with professionals who want to explain to the kids the benefits of staying in school. Parents will be involved in the program, providing their kids the GPS trackers in the morning and checking them in at night. Munoz understands that parental involvement is the most important factor. Previously he has addressed minor offenses by requiring students to attend a day of class along with a parent. The judge is known statewide for his creative problem solving.

Thankfully, Munoz’s use of GPS trackers is thoughtful and not draconian. Other states in previous years have attempted to pass laws requiring school-wide use of the devices. In the United Kingdom, a uniform company called Trutex has sold to some private schools uniforms that are already embedded with GPS trackers. In these—admittedly exclusive—academies every student is tracked at all times, regardless of his or her disciplinary record. By contrast, the students of Bryan County have much less supervision to worry about. With currently a 97% attendance rate, it looks like the system may be working.

By Greg Bartlett

Colleges are businesses like any other, even if their clients are students and their service is higher education. And just like any other organization operating in this current economic climate, universities are desperate to find savings and increase productivity in every area. Campus services are expanding rapidly, and management can find it difficult keep track of it all. Thankfully, today’s GPS tracker technology offers a few solutions for students, teachers, and administrators alike.

In the interest of safety, some colleges have opted to provide individual or cell phone-based GPS trackers to their students. Montclair State in New Jersey has given some students GPS “timers” which can be activated in the case of emergency. If a student is stranded or needs help, he or she can notify campus security of his or her position. Given recent campus shootings, a well-integrated GPS and threat management system can help safety officials deal with the worst kinds of crises. Thankfully the technology hasn’t yet attracted wolf-criers, as security only receives an average of one notification per month.

Many schools issue school laptops to students needed aid, but unfortunately theft in the dorms can be a serious issue. A great way to mitigate the problem is to integrate a small GPS tracker into the university laptop. When students report a stolen computer, administrators can simply look up its current position. If the position is off-campus or even out of state, it can be reported to law enforcement, which can recover the laptop in due time. The same goes for teachers’ laptops, which are perhaps more prone to theft than others.

A variety of other activities can benefit from GPS trackers, as well. Many universities offer extensive shuttle services to their students, and like other public transportation systems, they can sometimes suffer from route inefficiency, which can quickly be cleared up after an analysis is made with GPS technology. Perhaps more useful in the long term is a reporting service that lets students track where campus shuttles are at any given moment and plan accordingly. One such network between the colleges of Notre Dame and Loyola offers students access to a website which shows the position of shuttles overlaid on a map.

As GPS tracking technology continues to impact every kind of business and organization, it’s nice to see effective GPS integration producing greater cost savings and efficiency to our nation’s schools.

By Harriette Halepis

Kids love amusement parks. Clowns, toys, games, fun rides, and sticky treats all add up to a great day. While amusement parks are certainly a lot of fun, they can also be relatively dangerous. A large number of child molesters, kidnappers, and other types of criminals tend to lurk around park grounds.

The best way to make sure that your kids stay safe is to keep a careful eye on them at all times. Of course, this might not be easy considering the fact that there are hundreds inside of most parks at any given time. What can you do to protect your kids?

There are a couple of things that make a lot of sense when it comes to making sure your kids are safe inside of a park. Here are a few suggestions that have been proven effective time and time again.

Buddy System: if you plan to bring more than one child to a park at the same time, ask them to be responsible for each other. Using the buddy system has saved more than one child’s life.

Phone Number: make sure that your kids know your phone number. If your kids are too young to memorize a number, use a Safety Tat (temporary tattoo that is kid-safe) or write your phone number on a piece of paper, and place the paper inside of your child’s pocket.

Photographs: take pictures of your kids when you enter the park. This way, you can give a security guard the photos if your kids wander away.

GPS Locator: this might be the most effective method at all. Place a GPS tracker inside of a backpack or somewhere inside of your child’s clothing. A GPS locator will track your child’s every movement, and it will help police find your child if they should disappear.

It’s also a good idea to speak with your children before you head to the park. Let them know what they should do in case of an emergency. Devise a game plan that includes a meeting spot somewhere in the park.

Amusement parks can be a lot of fun for your kids. In fact, they are great when it comes to summer vacation or a fun family outing. Just make sure that keep your eye on your children at all times. Use the tips provided above to make sure that your kids are safe.

When it comes to your children, you can never have too many safety precautions set in place. The more that you prepare for any kind of emergency, the less likely it is to occur.

By James Neely

Children have innate needs to be close to those who love them and provide shelter and care where they cannot. This is understood in child-rearing. Also understood is the need to provide boundaries for actions by small children who, on their own, could do things that have disastrous consequences.

Why do we not apply this logic when children turn to teens and get their drivers licenses? Do they not also need boundaries and need to still be instructed on doing or not doing things that could hurt them severely? The answer is ‘yes.’

For teen drivers, the best method for helping direct their young, sometimes overeager minds is by installing and using a GPS Tracking system in the vehicles in which they will be driving and spending time with family and friends.

Boundaries established. Once the teen knows and understands the rules and laws that make up the boundaries, as well as understanding that they are being strictly enforced by a GPS vehicle tracking device, it helps modify their behavior to be more responsible an less likely to commit acts that have serious consequences.

This is not always the case, but even when it is not, data in support of evidence presented is invaluable in substantiating claims made by the teen or others.

Rules enforced. Rules and laws are not made to be broken, or even tested. Most parents have horror stories in their past of times when a nonchalant attitude was taken towards these things with sometimes disastrous results, or at least the realization that things could have gone wrong very quickly. Why put your child in that situation in the first place?

Creating boundaries for verification. When a GPS Tracking system is utilized, you can set a perimeter in which a vehicle is not allowed to traverse over which will set off alerts. The consequences are choices that parents have to make, but this allows control beyond just the data for location, direction of travel and speed provide.

Monitoring progress. Being able to operate in near real time may or may not be deemed as necessary, but it is nice to know that it is available. Constant monitoring has a built-in safety level that helps the end user perform verification and adherence to rules and laws.

It is time to help teens become adults by understanding the reasoning behind boundaries. Encouraging young minds towards positive behavior will go far in aiding their development. GPS Tracking systems gives you the basis that you need in establishing this environment. Good luck.

By Greg Bartlett

I remember my first day of school. I was excited and eager to head off to school, make new friends, and start learning. My parents took me to school and picked me up. But for some parents, the opportunity to drop off and pick up their children from school just isn’t feasible. Instead, their children ride the bus to school, leaving the parents with a new set of fears. They’re not just worried about how their child with fit in, find friends, and enjoy classes. Now they’re also worried about where their child is during the long bus ride.

After a five-year-old child was lost on a school bus for five hours, New York City implemented a plan to put GPS tracking units in its buses. Now parents will be able to find out where their children are while they are riding the bus, giving the parents peace of mind in knowing the location of their children, whether five years old or fifteen years old.

In Wales, another GPS tracking program requires students to swipe a card as they get on a bus. Then parents and officials can track the bus and know exactly who is riding the bus. The long bus rides are safer and the tracking options provide peace of mind for parents, students, school officials, and bus drivers.

A program in California aims for increased safety of its buses, bus drivers, and the students. The GPS system it uses allows the school to track the buses and have automatic updates every 60 seconds. In addition to increasing safety, the tracking system allows the school to streamline its routes for increased efficiency.

With GPS tracking, parents and school officials can know where a bus is and whether or not it will be late. If the bus is hijacked, has an accident, makes an unplanned stop, or deviates from its path, authorities can be alerted almost immediately. Furthermore, if the bus breaks down or is hijacked, the driver can send a silent alert or text message to the police and to the school, and the GPS will let them know where the bus is so that assistance can be sent to the right location.

Parents no longer have to be worried about the safety of their children who ride the bus to school. Instead, they can relax in knowing where the bus – and thus where their child – is. And with GPS tracking, security on school buses ensures that each child is safe and can be easily located.

By Greg Bartlett

Several colleges, including Harvard, MIT, and Tufts University, are adding GPS vehicle tracking to their campus shuttles so that students can make better use of their time and still catch the buses to get from one side of campus to another.

In all of these cases, the buses are supposed to run on some sort of schedule. Yet, students often end up waiting an extended period of time for a bus to arrive for pickup and drop off at another area. Extended wait times often lead to overcrowding on some shuttle buses and not enough passengers to justify the running of others.

If students are able to look at a web site and learn where the shuttle buses are located at any given time, along with the average speed of travel, the students can time their leaving of their dorm rooms to coincide with them arriving at the shuttle stop as or just before the bus arrives. This can provide students with a few extra minutes of study time that they would not have if waiting at a crowded bus stop for the next shuttle.

Transportation problems have been one of the foremost difficulties faced by college students, especially those attending larger universities for many years. In many cases, where a candidate for student government stood on the issue of GPS vehicle tracking to improve the transportation has been the deciding factor that won or lost the election.

Tufts was one of the first to install GPS vehicle tracking device on their campus transportation buses. Other universities are looking at the system they have in place and modeling their own systems based on this one because it has been shown to work. Students are not showing up late for class and blaming it on the shuttle system nearly as often, because anyone can check the location of shuttles and arrange to meet the last one that will ensure timely arrival at the building where the class is located. There are really no excuses for tardiness based on the transportation system at these universities anymore.

Other colleges and universities that operate shuttle buses to carry students from one part of campus to another could do well looking at the models established by these universities for GPS vehicle tracking of these buses. Steady improvements in the transport system can lead to steady improvements in student grades and attendance records throughout the campus.

By Greg Bartlett

College represents different things to different people. Some view it as preparation for the job they’ve always wanted. Some see a multitude of networking opportunities waiting as they interact with students and professors. Still others consider college a 4 year party with a few classes thrown in. To most, college represents a measure of freedom that they didn’t have before. Going off to college means cutting apron strings, saying good-bye to the relative safety of home, and beginning the process of shaping the future. But there is a dark side of campus life that many don’t consider or plan for. As many as 25% of college age women say they have been the victims of rape on campus. Seventy-five percent of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. These frightening statistics don’t have to represent the norm, however. Judicious use of GPS trackers can significantly reduce the incidence of rape among college students by providing a trusted friend or family member with the ability to monitor a student’s whereabouts.

GPS trackers operate by sending a signal from a transmitter to a computer which identifies the location of the person or object being tracked. Personal safety devices that utilize GPS tracking weigh as little as 3 ounces and can be easily concealed under clothing. Some models provide a panic button which, when pressed by the user, alerts the person monitoring the signal to check the location.

How will GPS trackers benefit the average student on campus? With the knowledge that help is within the push of a button, students can be more confident in social and dating situations. They need not feel as though each date is a potentially dangerous situation. They can ask a family member or roommate to check in at set times to make sure they are where they planned to be. In the event of actual or attempted rape, victims know that someone knows where they are and help will be there as soon as possible.

Campus life should be an adventure and a new start for students; it should never be a source of fear. GPS trackers give students and their families peace of mind and the freedom to act confidently in a variety of settings. All students deserve safety. GPS can be the next step toward making our college campuses safe places to make friends, pursue an education, and shape a future.