Day and night, police officers defend the public against threats to order, safety, and decency. Knowing that an officer routinely patrols your neighborhood or the streets around your workplace provides a sense of well-being and an assurance that someone watches and follows up on any suspicious activity taking place. But what if that officer sat in his car all night instead of monitoring his assigned route? What if he reported that he performed his duty, but in fact did not? And what if the body of your loved one went unnoticed and unreported because that police officer failed in the performance of his duty?
That’s exactly what happened to a family in Cleveland. When suspicions were aroused that two officers were not doing the work they reported, their superiors took a look at records from a GPS tracking device installed on their car. The device showed that not only did the officers remain stationary for most of their shift, but also that their response to a report of a body proved unsatisfactory. Their assessment of a woman’s body as a deer left a family without information for longer than necessary.
While most police cars have a GPS tracking device installed, not only departments use the information gained from those devices effectively. With the information received from the device, someone can monitor not only the location but also the speed and direction of each car on the road and can determine whether a car sits idle for too long or does not complete its assigned route. With this knowledge, department personnel can keep officers accountable to their superiors and to the taxpayers for performing the duties expected of them to keep citizens safe.
Many companies install a GPS tracking device in each fleet vehicle so that they can monitor their employees’ movements throughout the day as well as determine whether they operate vehicles efficiently. Idle time, speed and routes can all be monitored by the GPS tracking device and can make a difference in fuel consumption. Smart driving can save a company thousands of dollars each year in fuel costs over less efficient vehicle operation.
While most employees on the police force and in other job situations are honest workers, the few bad apples make GPS tracking a good idea for all employers. Even one mistake like the one made by the Cleveland police officers is cause for concern on the part of superiors and citizens. With GPS tracking, managers can make sure repeat incidents don’t occur and that employees are performing the jobs expected of them.
