Putting A GPS Tail On Cops

What a really great and horrible idea! GPS can be used to pinpoint the location of every sworn officer at any given time. Should an officer be kidnapped, he or she could be found in minutes. Police dispatchers could always determine which officers are closest to an in progress crime or other emergency. Supervisors could quickly determine if an officer has strayed from his beat or post without permission. That’s the upside of this argument.

A downside? Say it ain’t so! The new technology can’t be that difficult for burglars, rapists, armed robbers and hit men to hack into. Imagine criminals being armed with precise information as to the location of every officer! If the system were somehow hack-proof, would the civilian employees sell that sensitive information to the crooks?

In cities like Chicago with draconian gun bans citizens will be even more vulnerable to the predators.

There are too many answered questions about his hardware. Perhaps police agencies should spend this money on bringing departments up to authorized strength and training. I have not even touched the area of the officer’s privacy and civil liberty involved. When police agencies are having difficulties finding and hiring qualified candidates, as it is this idea is ill advised.