On January 23, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement’s use of GPS Tracking devices to track a suspect was deemed unconstitutional. However, last week a federal judge in Iowa discovered a loophole in that ruling.

Mark Bennett, U.S. District Judge in Sioux City, ruled in Case 5:11-cr-04065-MWB United States of America (plantiff) v. Angel Amaya (defendant) that evidence obtained by federal Drug Enforcement Agents (DEA) last year through GPS tracker evidence — prior to the Supreme Court warrantless covert GPS tracking ruling — is submittable in court.

When DEA federal agents collected GPS tracking evidence against suspected drug traffiker, Angel Amaya, they were acting on the binding and precedent 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals that authorized the covert use of surveillance through warrantless GPS in seven states, including the state of Iowa, noted Judge Bennett in the case. Further, the agents were acting in “good faith” at the time of the evidence collection. Read the rest of this entry »

A clinical trial is underway at Woodland Healthcare in California that is studying the use of a GPS tracking sensor attached to asthma inhaler to track where and when asthma sufferers use their inhalers.

Here’s how it works: When a patient presses the button on his asthma inhaler it not only sends him a blast of medication, it sends real-time GPS data that records the date, time, and location that the patient used his inhaler.

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Restraining orders now have more power, thanks to a new GPS tracking bill signed into law by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker last week.

The new law will enable state Department of Corrections to utilize a GPS tracking device on domestic abuse restraining order violators. A judge on each case can make the decision to order the GPS monitoring.

And, if the offender violates the restrainer order — as verified by the GPS tracker device — the violator may be subject to a $200 fine and/or nine months in jail.

The GPS tracking device will notify law enforcement when a violator enters a restricted area as specified by the restraining order. When a violator crosses into a restricted area, law enforcement can see the offender’s exact location via GPS coordinates. Read the rest of this entry »

Bank robbers will need to think again if they think they can get away scot-free from robbing a bank — even if they’re wearing a Bill Clinton mask as a disguise.

That’s because more and more banks are beginning to use a high-tech device to entrap bank robbers. Here’s how it works:

A bank robber enters a bank, walks up to a bank teller, and demands money, either verbally or in a note. The bank teller complies with the request, but slips a high-tech GPS tracker device into the wad of money inside the bag.

Once the bank robber has the stolen cash-in-hand and proceeds to make his getaway, a bank representative activates the GPS tracking device. Police then can track, locate, and arrest the robber with the aid of the so-called “money tracker”. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, the highest recorded unleaded gasoline price is $4.114, which occurred on July 17, 2008. And if you didn’t already know, we are getting close to that record — real close. As of Saturday, April 7, 2012, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.932. Of course, some states are already seeing the $4.00 crest in gas prices. Just a month ago it was $3.758, which represents a .17 cent per gallon increase in just one month.

One of the main causes of the near record high gas prices is the tensions in the Middle East — specifically Iran, which is “threatening to disrupt about 20 percent of the world’s oil supply,” commented Cathy Hein, a spokeswoman for AAA Carolinas, in the Winston-Salem Journal. Read the rest of this entry »