Crime & Safety

GPS Tracking: A New Direction in Crime Solving

Your cell phone keeps you on the grid, for better or worse

When a woman's purse disappeared from her cart at Walmart April 5, it didn't take long to locate it. 

The purse contained the woman's cell phone, and a friend had soon used its GPS system to track it to a house in North Royalton. When police went to the house, they found the purse and all its contents.

Just last week, a Strongsville mom reported her son had run away from home during the night. But before police could start a search, the mom remembered the teen had his cell phone with him.

Find out what's happening in Strongsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She was able to pinpoint his whereabouts quickly.

GPS tracking isn't exactly new to police work, but it's becoming  the new standard for looking for missing people and valuables.

Find out what's happening in Strongsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"GPS chips are becoming more popular as a recovery tool," Strongsville Police Chief Charles Goss said. "I can see a time three to five years down the road where these chips will be on almost everything of value."

They're already installed on more items than you might realize -- things like expensive machinery, ATMs and luxury cars. 

"People put them on expensive cars all the time," Goss said, noting that insurance companies have provided police departments with equipment to track those chips.

But scientists are already experimenting with GPS chips so tiny they can be attached to a piece of folding money. Tellers could hand over those bills to bank robbers instead of bills containing exploding dye packs.

"It's not far away -- a wafer-thin chip on a $100 bill," Goss said.

Of course, the ability for "government" to track everyone through their cell phones has sparked privacy and security concerns. Goss said GPS tracking could be used for foul play if someone is trying to locate you to do you harm, or for stalking purposes.

"It's a trade-off if you decide to carry a phone with a GPS in it," he said. "It goes with the territory."

Still, Goss sees the technology becoming more and more mainstream, with companies already marketing GPS chips that he believes people will soon be attaching to heirlooms, pieces of art and other big-ticket items.

"It's a pretty economical way of increasing the odds of recovery," he said. "Soon, the first thing crooks will have to do is find the GPS chip on whatever they stole and try to get rid of it."

 

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Strongsville