High-tech crime-stopping
From Wolf Blitzer Reports' Jennifer Coggiola in Washington:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Global positioning system, or GPS, devices have been used by law enforcement for the past few years in places like Arlington, Virginia, where authorities demonstrated for CNN how it's being utilized there to catch crimes as they happen.
A crook trying to steal an undercover car equipped with GPS by police didn't stand a chance.
Through their "bait car activation system," Arlington, Virginia, police have succeeded in making 18 arrests, and auto theft has dropped in the county since the technology was put into use two years ago.
Detective Chris Dengeles explains how the system works:
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"When the vehicle is entered and stolen, a silent alarm is sent to our communications center where a dispatcher will intercept the call and a dispatcher unit will find the vehicle. ... Finally law enforcement is catching up with technology."
But privacy experts caution that it's essential any new technology implemented by police isn't abused.
"It's not that the technology is bad. It's that we want to make sure that there are adequate roadblocks to police access to it. And typically that roadblock would be a warrant, where simply police have to show probable cause that a crime occurred and go to a judge to prove that probable cause," says Chris Hoofnagle, the associate director of the Electronics Privacy Info Center.
GPS systems aren't just available for law enforcement officials. Anyone can buy them online for a multitude of purposes: To track your car's mileage for tax breaks, monitor teen drivers, or confirm suspicions about one's spouse.
Because GPS allows users to determine the location and speed of the car the systems are attached to at anytime, anywhere on the planet, just as it can be helpful, it can also be abused, according to domestic abuse advocate Cindy Southworth.
"GPS is one more tool that abusers can use to stalk their victims. They can install it on the car, know the exact location, follow her when she tries to escape the relationship, find her," says Southworth.
Last year a Wisconsin man pleaded no contest to stalking his ex-girlfriend. He'd hidden a GPS device in her car to watch her every move.
"He followed her everywhere, to work," Southworth says. "He was able to know her exact location 24 hours a day with that GPS system."
There are things someone can do if they suspect they're being tracked, like check their car -- under their hood, under their seats, in the trunk and under the bumper. And if they don't find anything they can also have the car inspected by a mechanic.
