Preventing Theft with GPS Devices

If you didn’t have a car during your student days, you probably relied on a bicycle to get to campus and around town. You knew that if you didn’t chain your prized possession securely to a bike rack, your sole form of transportation would likely be gone by the time you returned from class. But even a lock and chain cannot keep a skilled, equipped thief from his prey.

What can? Deterrence — in the form of GPS-based “bike bait.”

Several college police departments have adopted “bike bait” as a new means of tracking and preventing campus theft. Small GPS devices are mounted invisibly to certain vehicles, which are then left at bike racks to entice thieves. (The thieves seem to have a special affinity for either really pricey models or poorly-secured bikes.) If a thief takes the bait and moves the bike beyond the GPS device’s pre-assigned safe zone, an alert signal automatically goes to the police, who can then monitor exactly where and how fast the bike travels and then send an officer to arrest the perpetrator and return the bike. And the fact that thieves can’t tell which bike on the rack may have the hidden GPS device deters the smarter ones from even making the attempt.

While you may not use, secure or sell bicycles in your line of work (though perhaps you do), you can see the value of GPS-based asset tracking in preventing theft. The devices’ ability to alert the authorities immediately and provide instant directional and speed data allows thefts to be stopped in minutes, before the stolen goods can be sold to an unwary buyer. Track What Matters’ Asset Trackers can protect your valuable inventory or vehicle fleet just as easily. Stop worrying about theft — contact us today for more information.