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Situational Summary

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A California municipality was experiencing significant thefts from its main office complex. The local police department contacted GPSit to assist in developing a solution for reducing these thefts and to help determine the thief.

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Problem Solution​

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After analyzing the situation, GPSit technical advisors recommended a bait project to determine the source of the thefts. GPSit installed one of its Sendum GPS Trackers internally in a laptop computer. The tracking device was undetectable from the outside of the computer and was powered by the computer's battery supply. The use of advanced, low-power cellular network-based tracking technology allows the GPS Trackers to be tracked even inside buildings and without being detected. The computer was then carefully repackaged in its original package and placed in one of the areas where recent thefts had occurred. In less than five hours, the computer went missing. Detectives assigned to the case used their department login to GPSit's TrackFusion online tracking application and located the computer in real time as it moved from the office complex to a house in the nearby area. The address of the house was verified as belonging to a city employee who worked in the office complex where the recent thefts had occurred. The detectives traveled to the house and upon questioning the employee, the employee produced the missing laptop computer.

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Problem Resolution

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The city employee was arrested for grand theft. The internal thefts at the city's offices ceased. The city now regularly uses GPSit's technology and services for other bait projects to reduce theft at a very low cost to the police budget.

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Cost/Benefit Analysis

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The total cost of the bait device and tracking service for an entire year was less than $1,000. However, the estimated cost savings in reduced theft loss as well as police investigative efficiency is estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars in annual savings.