In an effort to thwart robbery of merchandise and break up the crime rings behind the thefts, police forces are turning to satellite technology.

The New Jersey State Police recently used Bulldog Technology’s Miniboss tracking system, which incorporates GPS and wireless-based location information, in a sting operation that busted a theft ring. A tracking device embedded in a $250,000 shipment of designer clothing that was stolen enabled authorities to follow the merchandise into the heart of a known fencing ring.

“Sometimes they embed it in loads and leave the loads out to be stolen, and when it starts moving, they track it the thieves’ warehouse and they can go and arrest the thieves,” Heetor Ward, Bulldog’s chief technology officer, told Satellite News. “Sometimes they let it go right through the supply chain and they just make notes as [the merchandise] goes from the primary place of theft, to the location of where the thieves store it, to where the fences are located, and they track it all the way back through the supply chain and make multiple arrests. Sometimes they track individuals that are committing these robberies.”

The Miniboss system uses technology that was developed to address E-911 requirements for cell phones as mandated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The primary source of location data is provided by GPS satellites. However, should the embedded Miniboss device fail to acquire information from the three GPS satellites needs to triangulate its location, the device will incorporate information from the wireless networks. The Miniboss can continue to provide location information even when denied access to any GPS spacecraft, Ward said The only limitation is that the tracking unit needs to be in range of a terrestrial wireless network in order to send location information to the receiver.

“The reason our technology is used by a lot in law enforcement agencies is that it always returns a position no matter what,” Ward said.

–Gregory Twachtman

(Heetor Ward, Bulldog Technologies, 604/271-8656