Location

1
Location Trackingof Offenders Using GPS Based
Systems

• CTA Conference
• Pittsburgh, PA
• May 24, 2004

2
Housekeeping

• Mike Epstein 310-336-2122
• Epstein_at_law-west.org
• NLECTC
• Stop me at any time
• Turn cell phones and pagers to stun
• Vendors, please
• Dont market your product
• Dont trash your competition
• Copies of presentation available on request
• Fill out your evaluation forms

3
Presentation Objectives

• Requirements definition
• Describe how GPS based location and tracking
  devices work
• Description of available GPS based location and
  tracking devices and services
• Effectiveness and limitations of these systems
• Systems in use
• Post-processing offender tracking data

4
System Requirements

• Track and report the whereabouts of an
  uncooperative offender away from his or her home
• Notify the designated authorities when
• the offender is in an unauthorized location
  (Area)
• the offender is not where there are supposed to
  be
• the location of an offender is unknown
• the tracking device is not working properly
• the offender has separated from the tracking
  device
• Tracking device must
• be of reasonable size and weight
• operate on portable power for the hours an
  offender is away from their house
• act as a home detention device
• Receive information from the monitoring agency

5
Derived System Requirements

• Tracking device must
• know its location
• know if has been tampered with
• know the unauthorized locations for the offender
• know the schedule of the offender
• be able to communicate

6
System Design Assumptions

• Use GPS to determine tracking device location
• Use commercial communications paths
• Wireless data services between mobile tracking
  device and monitoring service
• Dial up phone line between tracking device at
  home and monitoring service
• Internet between monitoring service and
  responsible agencies
• Use offender worn anklet transmitter for tracking
  device proximity checks

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GPS Tracking Subsystems
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Offender Subsystem Requirements

• Collect, process, store and communicate
  geographical location of offender outside their
  home
• Replace home detention devices
• Tamper proof / resistant / alertable
• Operate for 8 12 hours (current battery
  constraints)

9
Communications Subsystem Requirements

• Provide reliable communication paths for
• location data
• in real time (device to monitor)
• after the fact (device at rest to monitor)
• Notifications and alerts
• CCO to device
• Device to monitor
• Reporting
• Monitor to CCO

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In-house Subsystem Requirements

• Device charging station
• Device communications station
• (Dedicated) Phone line
• Device at rest proximity monitoring

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Monitoring Subsystem Requirements

• Trusted interface with CCO subsystem
• Tools for the CCO to
• Enroll and manage offenders
• Monitor and manage offender rules
• Hot zones / grace periods / rule status
• Rule schedule
• Violation notification
• Query offender location
• History
• Rule violation mapping
• Generate reports
• Manage tracking device
• Transmit messages to offenders

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CCO Subsystem Requirements

• Computer and printer with communication path to
  the monitoring subsystem (usually internet based)

13
How GPS Based Location and Tracking Devices Work
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GPS What you need to know

• Satellite broadcast system
• 24 available (6-12 in view)
• Provides Lat, Lon and Alt position and time to a
  receiver system
• Its free of charge
• 100 of the time accuracies of 70 feet
  horizontal, 85 feet vertical, 200 nanosecond time
  errors (20 millionths of a second)
• Receiver can calculate speed
• Position data can be enhanced
• WAAS
• LAAS or DGPS

Minimums Lat, Lon data from three
satellites Lat, Lon Alt data from four
satellites
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GPS WAAS DGPS/LAAS

• Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)
• Two FAA launched satellites with North American
  coverage in geosynchronous orbits
• Requires upgraded or newer GPS receiver
• Accuracies of 2 meters horizontal and 3 meters
  vertical
• Differential GPS (DGPS) or Local Area
  Augmentation System (LAAS)
• Specialized applications such as survey work,
  accuracies within inches

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GPS Operational Use

• Probably wont work indoors unless receiver is
  near a window (receiver can tell you if it is
  getting good data)
• May not work in a car or a bus unless receiver is
  near a window
• If receiver is turned off, reacquisition of the
  satellite data may take minutes (0-10 min)
• Always on receiver draws a lot of battery power
• Most GPS receivers have a sleep mode which
  restarts quickly (typically less than 1 min)
• Receiver start modes
• Off (Cold)
• Sleep (Warm)
• On (Hot)

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Active Tracking System
GPS Satellite
AgencyPrograms
CommunicationLink
Monitoring Center
Base Station
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Elements of an Active Tracking System
GPS Satellites
Monitoring Station
Ankle Transmitter
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Passive Tracking Device
GPS Satellite
Officer
Communication
Link
Monitoring
Center
Base
Station
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Elements of a Passive Tracking System
GPS Satellites
Monitoring Station
Ankle Transmitter
21
Overcoming GPS Tracking Problems

• Newer GPS chipsets
• Newer GPS satellite constellation
• Indoor augmentation technologies
• Nanotechnology gyroscope
• 802.11? tracking technologies
• Operational and Offender procedures

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Description of Available GPS Based Location and
Tracking Devices and Services
23
Vendors
BI Elmo Tech iSecureTrac ProTech VerQuis
Active devices Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes
Passive devices Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown
Offender pieces 2 2 2 2 1
Post processing Unknown Unknown Unknown Yes Yes
Web site www. bi. com www. elmotech. com www. isecuretrac. com www. ptm. com www. verquis. com
24
The Effectiveness and Limitations of These
Systems
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Pros Cons of Passive Devices

• Pros
• Small size can be belt mounted
• No real time communication concerns
• Tracking throughout the day
• In-home monitoring at night
• Lower cost
• Less work load for officers, no immediate pager
  response
• Reduced agency liability
• Cons
• After the fact tracking coverage - no immediate
  notification in the event of a zone violation

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Pros Cons of Active Devices

• Pros
• Perceived increased public safety
• Immediate response capability
• May not require a phone line
• Cons
• High cost - can be 12.50 a day or more
• Communication coverage reliance for immediate
  alerts
• More labor intensive - zones schedule entry
• Could require agency response immediately
• Greater agency liability
• Equipment size and weight (battery power!)

27
Systems In Use
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Florida DOC

• Operating Active Tracking Devices since 2001
• Uses off duty police officers for immediate
  response to critical violations
• Currently using ProTech Monitoring systems

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Colorado DOC

• Largest consumer of Passive Tracking Devices
• Operations since early 2003
• As many as 240 units in operation
• May double this amount next year
• Currently using ProTech Monitoring Systems

30
WA DOC

• Recently finished a 90 day pilot project at the
  direction of and with funding from the State
  Legislature.
• Use passive tracking devices to study
• availability of technology
• geographic and weather related limitations
• training requirements
• effectiveness for different supervision
  populations
• equipment costs, monitoring fees, staffing levels
• ability of offenders to pay
• rate of loss and damage to equipment
• pilot study limitations

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WA DOC (more)

• Pilot study
• Used ProTech Monitoring Systems
• Fielded 30 40 devices spread throughout the
  state
• Tracked Level III sex offenders
• Challenged by homeless population
• Final report sent to the legislature on 1/31/04

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WA DOC (more)

• Results
• Technology is viable and available
• May increase Officer workload
• Limited success tracking homeless offenders
• Several offenders arrested and sent back to
  prison based on location data
• Some observed changes to offender behavior

With clear goals, knowledge of the limitations
in the technology, and an understanding of the
liability issued involved, utilizing GPS
technology to monitor sex offenders is an
effective and valuable supervision tool.
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Post-processing Offender Tracking Data
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Felons on Probation Parole Re-offend

• Bureau of Justice Statistics study found 300,000
  inmates studied were convicted of the following
  new crimes while on parole or probation
• Murdered 13,200 people
• Raped 11,600 women and 1,600 men
• Robbed 39,500 people
• Burglarized 39,600 homes
• Assaulted 19,200 people
• Stole 7,900 motor vehicles
• When investigating crimes, these offenders are
  prime suspects

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Post Processing Data

• Law Enforcement Applications
• Compare offender movements with recent area
  crimes
• Probation Parole Applications
• Build an automated set of indications and
  warnings to flag questionable offender movements

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Law Enforcement Application
Law Enforcement
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Probation Parole Application
Offender Tracking Data
Monitoring Facility
I A Filter
Probation / Parole Officer
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Questions ?
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Requirements Definition
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Requirements Satisfaction

• Reasons for unsatisfied requirements
• Cost
• Unavailability of technology
• Physical laws
• Size and weight

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System Descriminators
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Device Comparisons

• Device notifications
• GPS receiver
• Operating characteristics
• Mechanical characteristics
• Communications

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Device Notifications

• Positional data
• Hardware violations
• Device tampering / compromised
• Battery low
• Device attachment tampering / compromised
• Device not charging (in house)
• Device status
• Acquiring GPS signal
• No GPS signal

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Device Notifications (continued)

• Tamper alerts
• Case
• Attachment
• System health alerts
• Battery low
• Battery not charging (in house)
• Monitoring station alerts
• Geographic violations
• Device Exclusion / inclusion zones
• No communications from a device

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GPS Receiver

• GSP Signal timing
• WAAS capable
• Acquisition time
• Hot start time
• Warm start time
• Cold start time
• Power drain
• Working
• sleeping

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Operating Characteristics

• Battery
• Life between charges
• Charge time
• Recharge cycles to replacement
• Device computer capabilities
• Power usage
• Storage capability
• Attachment system(s)

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Mechanical Characteristics

• Weight
• Size
• Antennas
• GPS
• Comm system
• Environmental capabilities
• Attachment / Tamper system

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Communications

• Commercially available services
• Wireless data services
• GPRS . Edge
• 1XRTT . CDMA 2000
• 2 way pager
• 802.11
• Cell phone
• Private radio