Global Positioning Systems Credited With Cut In Car Thefts
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) increasingly prevalent in high-end cars and SUVs are making it difficult for car thieves to abscond for long.
Jason Redditt and Travis Townes carjacked three cars in a span of 10 days two years ago, and federal prosecutor Tony Arvin calls their apprehension “the first carjacking case I know of where [GPS] came into play.”
The third car the pair stole was a Cadillac Escalade outfitted with OnStar GPS and police caught them within an hour of the theft.
Maj. William Walsh of the Memphis, Tenn., police believes GPS systems will enhance his force’s ability to recover stolen cars; the Memphis police already recover approximately 90 percent of about 11,000 cars stolen every year in the city.
GPS satellite tracking costs between $17 and $70 per month, and beyond driver perks, police can use GPS to track a GPS-outfitted car to within a few hundred feet of its location.
OnStar, for instance, will not begin tracking a stolen car until the police are officially notified in order to safeguard customer privacy, says an OnStar spokesperson.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Associated Press (01/02/03) .
