Police officers get a lot of bad press. They are stereotyped as donut lovers who are continually taking coffee breaks and who abuse the speed limits. And many of the police officers portrayed on TV are either seen as unintelligent or lazy. Police departments around the country are cracking down on their officers, demanding that they be consistently working and not taking unauthorized breaks. But how are they doing this?
The answer comes in the form of GPS trackers. These days GPS tracking devices are used for more than just monitoring shipments and keeping young drivers from speeding. They are being used to monitor police officers too. Real time tracking systems placed on a vehicle will send out signals to satellites. These signals will then be used to determine the unit’s exact location, direct of travel, and speed. This information can be viewed on any computer with internet access. The information from GPS tracking devices can be viewed on a digital map to create a precise picture of everywhere the vehicle went in a day and how long it remained parked in a specific location. This digital map can be used to verify that individuals are in the places that they claim to be.
In April of this year, a policeman in Massachusetts was asked to resign because of information that a GPS tracker attached to his vehicle had collected. According to the tracker, Ronald Goulet had been running personal errands instead of patrolling. The tracker proved that the former police officer frequently left the car idling or parked at his home or other residences. After this information was gathered, the police officer was suspended and he eventually resigned. The police department that he worked for has since been tracking all of their officers with GPS tracking devices.
Because of the findings of this Massachusetts police department, many departments will likely begin using GPS trackers in the next few months. It is always important that employees are consistently working hard while they are on the clock, but this is even more important for those who are employed by the government. It is the job of law enforcement officers to keep the citizens of their town safe, and they cannot be doing that if they are using their working hours for social visits and personal errands. Companies all over the country are severely punishing the employees who misuse company time and company vehicles. Police departments should be no different.
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