GPS Tracking ROI

Okay, wowie-zowie systems that keep track of everything including the patient’s heartbeat are great … but I run a plain old ordinary business just trying to make ends meet, day by day.  How many read the last article about in-vehicle LAN systems and wide-area patient management and thought as I just wrote?

Well, what if I told you something bad for your business is really likely to occur really soon now … a problem that faces business after business no matter if they haul logs, deliver lumber to job sites or drive around remolding basements?  Would you read just one more paragraph to find out?

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a vehicle is stolen in the United States every 26 seconds — yep, every 26 seconds … probably 10 or more will be stolen while you read this article.

Now, of course, that’s all vehicles … personal, public use as well as business, so a business vehicle is stolen on average every minute or so.  Got insurance?  yep, thought you did.  Of course the insurance won’t really cover the time you have lost the use of the vehicle … maybe you can rant a replacement, maybe not.  It won’t cover all the small tools and unlisted items that are in the vehicle today … and even if your insurance makes good cash-wise, you still have to waste a day or two and who knows how many hours getting everything back the way it was.

If the vehicle is financed, you’ll be lucky if it pays off the loan amount … but no problem I’m sure you can write a check for a downpayment, sales tax, license plates and all the other “gotchas” that come along with a new vehicle, right?

Enough with the bad news, say something positive, Dave!  OK, I will.  I’m positive that GPS tracking is worth it to your bottom line.  Read what happened … and didn’t happen … to one small business here:

The front-end loader, owned by Action Concrete of Buford, GA, was reported missing from a construction site in Fulton County. Action Concrete immediately contacted EarthSearch Communications in order to locate the pricey piece of stolen equipment…. Action Concrete had installed EarthSearch’s “AutoSearchGPS 1.4″ device in nine of its construction vehicles in April of 2007. The GPS-based devices enable vehicles to be located and tracked in real time using the Internet. Jason Tucker, customer care specialist with EarthSearch, tracked the loader to an address in rural Upson County. “We were able to give the Upson County Sheriff’s Office the location of the loader within a few feet,” Tucker said…

And, in closing, let me say as I often have before … even though I don’t sell these systems any longer, I did once, and I never ran a concrete business as just one example.  But you might want to see what the president of the small company who didn’t have to buy a new front end loader had to say:

…”If everybody had one of these locaters, these guys [thieves] would be put out of business for good. It’s nice to know they [EarthSearch] are there.” Martin went on to say that he’d be installing devices on any new equipment he purchases. “It’d be stupid not to,” he added…

Ouch!  Calling you stupid?  That’s not me … would be bad salesmanship … but that’s what people in the real world think of those who let thieves take over.  What do you think?

Here’s a story that I am sure has been given wide circulation in the US … maybe even wider than it deserved … but when a teacher runs off with a student, especially a 13 year old student one can hardly expect the news media to keep things quiet.

I recall reading about this a couple days ago and wondering myself, just how will those two hide, where will they go, how long will it take the law to find them … and then I realized the boy had family in Mexico … and like many Anglos I thought to myself, wow, if they get across the border, the poor boys family, they might never be found.

But the “brilliant” teacher involved, in addition to being absent during all her classes on ethics, honesty and the protection of children is certainly not a reader of the blog.  She wants money, she cranks up he cell phone and has the boy ask for money from relatives … geez maybe she wanted him to cook and clean for her too … but she never heard about cell phones being locatable.  Bingo:

The two were located through a global-positioning device on Peterson’s phone, Arenas (the Mexican state police official who detained Peterson) said.

D’oh, as Homer would intone.  I mean the fact that this woman demonstrably violated her trust (I don’t need to add the usual editorial ‘alleged” disclaimer, she up and took him to Mexico) is proof that she’s not only immoral but also stupid … in addition to US laws on kidnapping doesn’t she know the US has very strong laws on crossing international boundaries to engage in sex with children?  Those laws aren’t only to penalize “dirty old men”, they apply to dirty young women as well.  So, displaying about the same degree of intelligence she has used so far, she uses her GPS-equipped cell phone.

Thank the good Lord she did and thanks also that the boy is safe.  What do you rabid pro-privacy, anti-GPS activists think now?  Were Kelsey Peterson’s “rights” violated?  Frankly, I think not, but I’m certainly willing to listen to opposing viewpoints.

Accused speeder to cops: My GPS proves your radar gun is wrong

By Ken Fisher | Published: October 26, 2007 - 10:27AM CT

GPS-based tracking devices don’t just help you figure out where you are and where you’re going, they might also help you avoid a speeding ticket. Shaun Malone of California is contesting a speeding ticket in that state by arguing that his GPS-based tracking system shows that the officer’s radar gun was wrong ..   Full GPS vs Radar article here.

Well, let’s just see here, how many mistakes are being made by how many people, and what the heck is the proper answer to this dilemma?

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GPS is great. Before handheld receivers became widespread, how did we ever find small boxes of random crap in the woods? Stalkers were among the first to see the technology’s potential, using it to track the movements of ex-girlfriends by sticking modified cell phones beneath their vehicles, but the state of California thinks that GPS is ready to enter a new market: the hood.

San Bernardino county wants to start tagging gangbangers with GPS transponders. County commissioners have applied to the state to be part of a pilot program that would monitor all offenders who are released from jail after serving time for gang-related activities.  Full article on tracking gang members with GPS here.

It’s no secret i’ve been in favor of GPS tracking of criminals, parolles and even those out on bail accused of certain crimes for a long time.  A few articles I enjoyed include GPS and Darwin, a number of Megan’s Law type cases, Preparing for GPS tracking Success and many others … use the Search or the Categories tabs to read more.

But prevention of crime is certainly smarter than detections and arrests … and this is a smart move on the part of San Bernardino County, California.

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One Indianapolis-based investigation firm uses GPS tracking and GPS locator technology to monitor subject vehicles and items of interest and allow clients to receive up to the minute alerts via e-mail, cellphone or through web-based monitoring.

….. GPS tracking and GPS locators are no longer a technology to be afraid of.

“GPS tracking is a powerful, easy, remote method for keeping track of a vehicle and/or item as it travels anywhere throughout North America,” says Tim Wilcox, President of Indianapolis-based International Investigators, Inc. “From the comfort of your own home or office, you can actually conduct your own surveillance and pinpoint the exact location of your subject or item to within 50 feet using our web-based GPS satellite interface.”… Read More About How GPS Tracking Adds a New Dimension To Investigative Work here.

Nice write-up on how one top of the line private investigation firm is not only using GPS tracking in their work, but also actively educating their clients and potential clients about the benefits. Why is it good business to spend some of your marketing budget on work like this? educating the public at larger … a huge percentage of whom will never become paying clients? that’s easy. No matter how good a firm thinks they are, there are thousands, just like them in the view of a client who has never worked with any of them. You can’t differentiate yourself by claiming to be the “best”, the “most discrete”, the “most cost effective”, etc. every other investigative firm is also positioning themselves to be “just like you, only better”.

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… In August 2007, a sex offender in a Southeastern state was released from prison. He was placed under mandatory community supervision supplemented with iSECUREtrac’s active GPS monitoring system which provides location data and notification of compliance violations in near real-time.

Later in the month following his release, this offender allegedly abducted a young girl from her residence. The iSECUREtrac monitoring center received a call from the offender’s probation officer requesting assistance with locating the offender. Using iSECUREtrac’s proprietary tracking software, a monitoring center representative lead the probation officer, a detective and 15 patrol cars to an area where they apprehended the offender. The victim, who was not harmed during the incident, was recovered by the team of officers. The offender was taken into custody and charges are pending. One officer stated that, “the iSECUREtrac monitoring center was a big help in catching this guy.”

Nationally, the statistics on child abductions are appalling. According to the US Department of Justice, nearly 800,000 children are reported missing every year…. Read more about how we can help 800,000 children a year here:

Yep, you’re going to get another post from me on this subject.  It’s really remarkable to me that I don’t get comments, emails and such on this subject more often … because if there is anything that sticks in my craw it’s crimes against children … and if there is any aspect of crimes against children that really makes me mad it’s the current situation today where thousands and thousands of regulatory and law enforcement leaders won’t get off their dead asses long enough to do something about it.

GPS Tracking of pretrial, work-release and paroled child crime offenders … it’s not just sex crimes we are talking about here .. has been proven not to cost but to pay.  GPS tracking these individuals saves on:

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INDIANAPOLIS — After five burglaries at his store this summer, Chris Rowland decided to plant Global Positioning System devices in some of his merchandise.

The decision paid off with burglary No. 6.

Someone broke into the Woodcraft store in the Castleton area on Friday morning and stole woodworking tools. Rowland had placed GPS devices in some of the packaging.

“The GPS system, we’ve wired it so that it phones my cell phone and tells me that it’s on the move, and we can actually track it,” Rowland told 6News’ Jack Rinehart.

The devices informed Rowland that the stolen items were at an apartment complex less than half a mile from his store. Later, the devices showed the merchandise had been moved to a house in Lawrence.

Rowland called police, who recovered the merchandise. Police said they’re looking for Jeffrey Burton, who they named a suspect in all six burglaries.

Rowland said he was motivated to use the GPS devices after someone told him that he’d never catch whoever was burglarizing his store.  Find out more about this unhappy-looking dude and how you can empower yourself with GPS here.

Nice news item here from Channel 6 in Indianapolis.  How many of us have been frustrated in life by burglaries?  It’s a shocking bow to our general well-being and certainly a huge cost to businesses.  If insurance companies in the US had to stand on their own two feet … instead of having their profitability assured by Congressional lobbying, repetitive, rampant business burglaries would be  a lot less frequent than they are … but we all have to play the cards we are dealt.

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