Please Read Carefully
Introduction
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology has been integrated into many disciplines, and criminal
justice/law enforcement is no exception. This exercise involves researching various types of GPS technology
for a variety of situations in the criminal justice field.
For this assignment, you will select TWO of the THREE situations below (or something similar to these
situations) and then complete the required activities for each (described in a moment).
Exercise Scenarios:
- EMERGENCY RESPONSE: Emergency responders must travel as quickly as possible to reach the location
of a house fire. The house is located in a sprawling suburb containing large residential subdivisions. The
address and geographic coordinates are known. - OFFENDER MONITORING: An offender who has served jail time for gang-related assault is being released
from prison. However, as a condition of his release, his location must be monitored so law enforcement can
rule out his involvement in additional crimes as well as keep him away from his prior gang members. - CRIME SCENE MAPPING: A violent crime has occurred in a rural area. Initial investigation indicates that the
crime scene may be quite large. An investigative unit is being assembled. This unit will be responsible for
locating and mapping each piece of evidence for later analysis. The locations of various bits of evidence are
deemed very important. The accuracy of evidence locations needs to be no worse than 1 meter.
Instructions:
Locate an article either in an academic journal or on the internet that is applicable to the chosen situation and
write a short (2-3 paragraphs) synopsis/abstract detailing the subject and the main points. Be sure to include
the name of the article as well as reference it using a standard citation format. If you choose an article from the
internet, be sure it is from a widely-respected news source and/or industry website.
Indicate the type of GPS (and GIS if appropriate) technology most useful for addressing the situation. In other
words, what tools would be needed and how would these tools be deployed. Be sure to include descriptions of
hardware, software and data.