Researchers and engineers from the University of South Florida have been awarded a patent that could see the public better informed about crime and disasters than ever before.  The patent (US8045954) covers a system that would enable governments to crowdsource crime fighting as well as laser target disaster announcements to mobile phones using a GPS aware app.

The patent summary does a good job of, well, summarizing the patent:

A method of providing emergency related information to and from a centralized location over a wireless network. The method utilizes cellular phones in emergency communications and entails two embodiments that employ location-aware technologies, in portable form, in security applications. One embodiment serves as a modern high-tech “neighborhood watch,” enabling law enforcement access to the many “eyes and ears” of the public simultaneously via available cell phones. Cell phones with embedded digital cameras allow the instant capture and remote submission of suspicious circumstances to law enforcement through pictures or video.

The idea of crowdsourcing crime fighting data certainly isn’t new. Sites like HarrassMap (which seems very popular) and apps like Fight Back (which seems to have gotten no traction at all) have been around for a while now, but it still is a great idea – especially when combined with information delivered through photos or videos can be added to the equation.

A world where average citizens could aid police in finding an abducted child, or a suspected murderer, or a bank robber is certainly a safer one.

The app would also have incredible power to contact cell phone users with laser targeted data in case of an emergency. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires – all pose a very real threat to human life. An app like this could be instrumental in discovering those who are trapped or injured. It could even be useful in directing individuals and families to the closest shelter, communicating important shelter rules like whether pets are allowed or if people with special needs can be accommodated comfortably.

The group we have to thank for this are:

• Sean Barbeau, CUTR research associate and Computer Science and Engineering doctoral candidate
• Philip Winters, Director of Transportation Demand Management Program at CUTR
• Rafael Perez, computer science and engineering professor
• Miguel Labrador, associate professor of computer science and engineering
• Nevine Georggi,CUTR Senior Research Associate

The patent was filed all the way back in August of 2006 but was not granted until October 2011. There appears to have no known current deployment of the technology patented.

Sources: Tampa Bay Online, USF News, US Patent 8,045,954

A man was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property after the owner of a cell phone tracked it to a residence in Sacramento, California.

According to reports from KCRA, a news station in Sacramento, the unidentified victim reported his cell phone stolen through an online reporting form but then decided to take matters into his own hands by using the GPS tracking feature on his phone.

The app took the victim, and later police, to the 2900 block of Azevedo Drive where the phone was found and the suspect was arrested.

This is just another example of how stupid thieves can be to steal cell phones, especially smartphones with GPS in them.

Source: KCRA.com

Cell phones can sometimes house our most precious memories. One Florida mother is living with the reality of having these memories stolen from her and her terminally ill 3-year-old daughter.

Melissa Vazquez lost her phone while out on the town with some family members on Sunday, January 8th. She was at the Passion Nightclub at the Seminole Hardrock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida where several others have reported having their cell phones stolen out of their purses as they party.

The stolen phone is not what is causing this Florida mother so much grief. Ms. Vazquez explains:

I just want my memories back. That is all I want. [My daughter] lost her smile, I have pictures of her smiling. She lost the ability to speak, she was able to say Mama and Daddy. I have no memories of that now.

Ms. Vazquez’s daughter is unable to move, suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1. Her chances of living much longer are very slim and it only seems reasonable that a mother be united with the pictures and videos of her daughter.

Ms. Vazquez has tried everything to get the phone back. She enlisted her friends on Facebook to call and text the phone to plead with the thief to return at least the memory card. She has even turned over GPS tracking data to the police in the hope that they will be able to do something about the theft.

Source: WSVN.com

According to this ruling by the FCC all wireless providers and VoIP services are required to use GPS tracking technology to provide E911 services to their customers and the government. The idea behind the ruling is to create a more reliable and faster working location finding mechanism for people who are making distressed phone calls. The deadline for adhering to the new guidelines is going to be 2018.

The new ruling effectually requires that GPS exist in all devices by removing provisions for network-based tracking solutions.

With GPS already on the rise in the US market with the boom of smartphones there is little doubt that wireless carrier and cell phone manufacturers will be able to comply with this new standard. As it is, the FCC already estimates that 85% of cell phones will contain the necessary GPS technology by the proposed deadline.

The real problem associated with the ruling is VoIP technology. Programs like Skype or Google Voice will have to piggy back off of cell phone GPS tracking in order to comply with the order. When these programs are used on a device like an iPad, laptop, or desktop computer the issues can be compounded. Where will the location information come from?

2018 is still a long way off and there could be significant changes to VoIP technology as we approach the deadline, but most consumers stand to benefit from this move – it will mean more location based programs for cell phones for all users.

Here is a the summary from the FCC ruling:

In this document, the Commission continues to strengthen its existing Enhanced 911 (E911) location accuracy regime for wireless carriers by retaining the existing handset-based and network based location accuracy standards and the eight-year implementation period established in the September 2010 E911 Location Accuracy Second Report and Order but providing for phasing out the network-standard over time. We also require all Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) providers, launching new stand-alone networks, to comply with the handset-based location criteria, regardless of the location technology they actually use. In addition, we will require wireless carriers to periodically test their outdoor E911 location accuracy results and to share the results with Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), state 911 offices, and the Commission, subject to confidentiality safeguards.

Sources: TechCrunch, Electronista, InformationWeek

A 17 year old burglary suspect has an air tight case against him thanks to the GPS tracking bracelet he was wearing while committing two additional robbers.

Why he would commit the crimes while wearing the tracking device is anyone’s guess. Perhaps he enjoys being a criminal?

Here is the report out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from the Journal Sentinel:

According to a criminal complaint, Christopher Terrell Gipson, 17, was out on bail in connection with another robbery and was wearing a GPS bracelet.

In addition to wearing the electronic tracking device, which records his location every 10 minutes, he was ordered not to commit any other crimes.

But he an another man, David D. Young, 18, were charged last week with operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and two counts of armed robbery party to a crime in connection with some new charges.

Although police arrested the men, the GPS bracelet recorded Gipson and his exact time and locations at the scene of the robberies in the area of the 5200 block of N. 60th St. and at 91st and Custer streets, the complaint says.

Gipson and Young also admitted to police that the two had committed the robberies together, according to the complaint.

While the bracelet used was not a real time tracker, the evidence that it gathered for the police was invaluable. Thankfully, there was no violence involved and no one was hurt in their criminal activity. Perhaps if there were, they might have a legislator pushing for real time tracking for criminals.

This is just one of the many things that passive GPS tracking can accomplish when used by the government to watch criminals.

In the wake of recent tragedy, one Virginia legislator is looking to GPS tracking technology for a solution. According to reports out of Martinsville, Virginia, Del. Ward Armstrong is going to be proposing a bill to the Legislature that will bring real time GPS tracking for certain types of criminals.

Here is the report from the Martinsville Bulletin:

He also will introduce a bill so that a person who violated a protective order could be required by court order to wear a GPS tracking device. That way, the person who took out the protective order or police would be aware when the person who violated the order was nearby, Armstrong said.

This is an interesting move and could be fraught with privacy concerns – let alone overcoming the logistic and financial hurdles that the technology’s limitations will impose upon law enforcement officials.

The key to the privacy concerns would be giving the criminals location to the person who took out the protective order against the criminal. What right do they have to know the position of any person? Also, would they need to have a GPS installed on themselves as well to let them know when the criminal is near them? This would increase the effectiveness of the system but would double the costs associated with the use of the tracking system.

Then there is the issue of battery life – a know limitation of real time GPS tracking systems. How would the police ensure that the device is well charged? Many small, real time tracking devices have an estimated battery life of a few days of dormant tracking, and only a few hours of active tracking. This means that the criminals would need to be recharging their batteries every few days. Will a parole officer oversee this? This is will cost money – more money than is currently being spent on this type of criminal.

It GPS tracking the answer for this issue? The State of Virginia is going to decide if this legislation makes it to the floor.

Cell phones are incredibly powerful devices for people seeking to protect themselves and their families. It, however, is not as well known that cell phones are also great devices to get stolen – especially if they have GPS tracking application installed in them!

Check out this news story:

A parental tracking device in a cell phone led police to a burglary victim’s stolen belongings on Sunday, according to a police report.

A woman woke up around noon to find her Dell laptop computer and a Sprint cell phone missing from her dining room, according to the report.

She found a basement window forced openin at the home on Iowa Avenue near Davison Road.

The woman told police a parental GPS tracking system showed the phone was at a home on Hamilton Avenue.

Police went to the address, recovered the cell phone and computer and arrested two males, 18 and 15 years old for home invasion.

Poor teenage burglars. They did not realize that when one steals a cell phone it is generally a good idea to power it down or take out the battery so it cannot communicate with the cell phone provider. I guess there is a reason a lot of stupid people are in prison – they are the only ones dumb enough to get caught.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/11/parental_gps_tracking_device_i.html

I don’t think this Jacksonville, Florida man knew what he was getting himself into when he placed a GPS tracking device on the car of his estranged wife. He probably thought he was somehow telling her that he love him. Apparently both she and the police have a different opinion about that type of activity.

A 45-year-old Westside Jacksonville man was arrested late Monday on a charge of stalking after a GPS tracking device was just one of the high-tech ways used to keep track of his estranged wife.

James Craig Crosby of the 8100 block of Niska Trail was booked into the Duval County jail just before midnight and was out on $2,500 bail nine hours later, according to jail records.

The man’s estranged wife, 39-year-old Christina Crosby, walked into the Zone 4 police substation at 6 p.m. Monday with a portable GPS tracker in her hand after discovering it attached to her car, the arrest report said. She said she was suspicious how James Crosby “always knew where to find her.” She also said someone tampered with her Facebook account, deleting a male friend’s name and adding her estranged husband’s.

In an Oct. 26 incident she told police she was at the Wesconnett public library on 103rd Street with their 7-year-old son when she looked up and her estranged husband was standing there. He left before police arrived. When she went home that night, all of her underwear had been stolen, but there was no sign of forced entry at the home. Someone also was monitoring her home computer use through a remote logger.

Police said they questioned James Crosby at his home at 10:15 p.m. Monday, learning the GPS device had been planted on the woman’s car almost three month’s ago and monitored 20 times on his home computer.

Maybe this guy took the creepily famous song Every Breath You Take by the Police a little too literally. He was tracking her car, her computer, and probably her cell phone. That does not say I love you, no matter what millions of women think when Sting sings it.

Creepiest. Song. Ever. Well maybe not ever. This song is way creepier:

You have to admit, tracking someone with GPS does not say I love you!

Source: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-11-03/story/jacksonville-woman-finds-gps-tracker-her-car-estranged-husband-charged

A new app has just been released that is going to help parents know if their kids are trick or treating in areas where known sex offenders live.

The app, called Trick or Tracker, is priced at $9.99 but is now available for free for the Halloween season. It seems that the app requires the Android operating system with at least two phones for it to work.

The app apparently alerts you, the parent, when your child is near the residence of a registered sex offender. The app does not provide real time GPS tracking, it only knows where the registered sex offender lives according to the state’s registry.

But is something like this really necessary?

Benjamin Radford, a contributor at Discovery News, has this to say:

While the app may make some parents feel safer, it is a false sense of security.

One study titled “How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters?” was published in the September 2009 issue of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment and examined 67,307 non-family sex offenses reported to law enforcement in 30 states over nine years. The conclusion was that children are at no greater risk for sexual assault around Halloween that any other time: “There does not appear to be a need for alarm concerning sexual abuse on these particular days. Halloween appears to be just another autumn day where rates of sex crimes against children are concerned,” the researchers reported.

Is this app useful or just fear mongering? Will your child be safer trick or treating this Halloween with this cell phone application?

Parents across the country who have an Android cell phone and are well off enough to have purchased an Android OS cell phone for their kids will have a decision to make. Will they try out the free GPS tracking app (and eventually purchase the app for $9.99 if they like it)?

Sources:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/209054/trick_or_tracker.html

http://news.discovery.com/tech/halloween-sex-offender-app-fuels-false-fears.html

A pair of criminals who broke into hundreds of cars to steal valuable equipment such as laptops and cell phones have made a deal with the District Attorney trying their case to serve as many as three years in state prison and pay thousands of dollars in restitution for their actions.

The case against the pair, Jeffrey M. Rice, 32, and Steven A. Glanz, 31, was broken when police received a warrant to place a GPS tracking device on Glanz’s car.

The device made it easy for police to build a map of their activity and linking the suspects to six specific thefts to which they recently plead guilty.

Police suspect that the duo is responsible for nearly 300 different cases involving a smash and grab style spree that mainly targeted business parks and churches.

Despite some resistance from the victims, prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that the hundreds of victims are best taken into consideration by striking this deal which will significantly reduce the prison time for these two criminals while also ensuring that the victims receive compensation for their loses.

This case demonstrates clearly how effective GPS tracking can be for the police in their efforts to put a stop to organized, systemic crime.

If they did not have the tracking capabilities made available by the tracker then there is no telling how much longer and how many more vehicles might have been broken into.