"Keeping Track" Under Adverse Conditions

• NCJ Number: 242204
• Date Published: April 2011
• Length: 3 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2010-MU-MU-K020
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Case Study

Annotation

This issue of TechBeat from the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center discusses the development of tracking devices to allow agencies to maintain contact with their officers.

Abstract

This spring 2011 issue of TechBeat discusses a demonstration project conducted by the Alaska Regional Center of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) to highlight efforts to develop a personal tracking device for police officers. The device will enable agencies to track their officers in adverse conditions, ensuring the safety of officers and the community. The demonstration was held in both July and October of 2010. The Alaska Regional Center worked with the Savannah River National Laboratory to present a wireless tagging, tracking, and location technology demonstration in Seward, AK, and surrounding areas. The purpose of the demonstration was conducted to highlight the ability of new technologies to provide near real-time highly accurate data on the location of police personnel. The basic requirements of the technology include the ability to operate independently of GPS as needed; function without access to cell towers; work without access to WiFi; and operate indoors, underground, in parking garages, in heavily wooded areas, and in urban canyons and other similar areas where GPS signals often become lost. The article discusses the basic design of the technology and provides a list of corporations, law enforcement agencies, and Federal agencies that worked on the project.