Mobile Phone GPS Helps Chicago Police
GPS Tracker In Mobile Phone Saves Chicago Woman
Marcos Servantes, a 16-year-old from the Chicago area, is currently being held without bail as he faces serious felony charges of sexual assault, home invasion with armed force, aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon and kidnapping. Servantes, who will be charged as an adult when his trial comes around, broke into a home in the city of Bucktown where it is alleged he committed acts of sexual violence upon a 43-year-old woman at the residence. According to the official police report, Servantes held the woman at gunpoint, sexually assaulted her, kidnapped her and then drove off with the woman in her motor vehicle. After the terrifying ordeal the woman was dropped off at an intersection, but not before Servantes took off with the woman's vehicle and cellular phone. The cell phone theft would turn out to be a critical mistake that would be instrumental in leading to the arrest of the criminal.
When the woman contacted law enforcement authorities to report the horrific incident she explained that the criminal still had possession of both her vehicle and cell phone. This is when quick thinking police activated the GPS tracking device located inside of the cellular phone to provide real-time GPS locational data. With an accurate description of the victim's vehicle and GPS tracking data police were able to locate Marcos Servantes near Roosevelt Avenue and Western Avenue. The police were able to arrest Servantes without any injuries.
Currently, law enforcement agencies are required to acquire a warrant before placing any GPS tracker on the car of a potential criminal suspect, but accessing GPS tracking locational data from mobile phone systems is still legal without first getting a warrant. Although some privacy advocates may suggest police access to mobile phone locational data is a bad thing, this story is a perfect example of how police were able to quickly apprehend a violent criminal suspect because they were able to avoid the red tape associated with standard GPS tracking surveillance.
GPS Tracking Devices For Guns
New Legislation Could Track Firearms With GPS
Representative Mary Flowers, a Democrat from the 31st District, has seen firsthand the impact of gun violence. She oversees a district in the Chicago area, one of the nations worst areas plagued by gun violence, and simply wants to see the killing stop. Fed up with the inability to accurately monitor firearms, Flowers announced this past weekend that she has every intention to introduce a bill to congress that will require all guns be either equipped or engineered with some form of GPS tracker system.
When interviewed about the potential new law Flowers explained that the GPS tracking technology would ideally function in the same method that cellular devices operate and provide locational data. This would likely mean a SIM card or GPS receiver be built into the firearm. She would go on to explain that such a system would allow law enforcement agencies to know where firearms are located and who has possession of them.
The passionate plea by the congresswoman for some solution to the gun violence which has plagued the Chicago area came shortly after Flowers attended the funeral for a 15-year-old girl who was a victim of gun violence. The story of victim Hadiya Pendleton has brought national attention to the increasingly serious problem of gun violence occurring in inner cities, especially in Chicago.
When speaking at a restaurant about the topic of gun control and gun violence, Flowers explained that some positive changes have already occurred such as Cook County banning what are known as straw purchases of firearms. This is basically when a individual proceeds through the proper legal channels to acquire a firearm then sells that firearm to a person who is not legal authorized to own such a weapon. Flowers recognizes that legislation banning straw purchases is a good first step to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but that it also isn't enough. That is why she is currently penning a law that would utilize the latest GPS tracking resources. She went on to say that the good guys with guns are not the problem and that through the use of a GPS tracker device it would be easier to find out who the bad guys were and where the guns are coming from.
No figures or information were provided on how such a program that uses GPS trackers to monitor guns would be implemented and/or paid for.
