GPSS for Police & Emergency Services

GPSS is being used in a wide spread of Police and Emergency Services applications, all of which involve GPS satellite based tracking of vehicles or other objects.

• Remote Tracking - the requirement for a Control Room to know where its vehicles are, minute by minute, to task resources. This requires automatic communication between cars and base. This communication could be based upon the existing voice radio - with a GPS unit in each car that 'bleeps' the car position at the end of each voice transmission, or dedicated facilities such as those mentioned on the leaflet 'Remote Vehicle Tracking with GPSS'.
• In-vehicle Tracking - to provide navigation and communication facilities in the vehicle, similar to those developed for future consumer in-car systems. A computer in the car, linked to its own GPS and data communications, provide the crew with a greater degree of autonomy. In addition to the obvious navigation aids it becomes feasible to co-ordinate multi-vehicle operations at a local level. e.g. rendezvous or co-ordinated chase.
• Covert Tracking - where the vehicle doesn't know it is being tracked. This includes a wide range of solutions which include hidden GPS pods or miniature transmitters that can be located using radio direction finding. Products developed to track wildlife as small as birds can be used to locate and follow any object - including clothing - on which the small transmitter is hidden. See the leaflet, 'Direction Finding with GPSS'.

Software is now normally the weak link stopping a computer based solution being implemented quickly, within budget, and put into successful operation. The rapidly decreasing size and cost of PC and GPS satellite receiver products puts greater weight on the need for suitable 'off the shelf' software. GPSS, the Global Positioning System Software, meets that need. GPSS is designed for a future mass market, and already has a wide range of application. It can therefore provide advanced, comprehensive facilities, immediately, at little cost.