Author: Devin Johnson

During Practices The NY Giants Use GPS Devices On Football Players

New York Giants coach, Tom Coughlin, is the NFL’s oldest coach at 67 years old; however, he has created a culture that is more modern than most. His cutting-edge thinking has transformed normal practices to include GPS devices and heat breaks.

While the Giant’s practice facility and stadium is younger than most, it is filled with banners and memorabilia from as far back as 1925, the team’s inception. In 1970, Coughlin began his career before people were too concerned about soft-tissue injuries and hydration. Now, Coughlin is on the forefront of global-positioning devices in football.

He outfitted his players with GPS devices on the back of their uniforms. These units can provide valuable information such as burst, running miles, running time and speed. Coughlin gets all kinds of important data on each player every single day they practice.

Although the Giants are in the second year of the GPS program, the team is hesitant to discuss it in specifics. Most likely, the do not want to give away any of their training secrets.

However, the players are extremely willing to talk about the use of the GPS devices aimed at preventing injuries and measuring recovery. For instance, Charles Brown stated that he had never used the GPS device on any other team but he likes it. It helps him monitor his progress, the angles he runs and speed.

Coughlin stated that the GPS data can be used in many ways. It can help the coaches accurately structure the practices. For example, it can help them determine when to cut down on reps or when extra stretching is necessary. The players even use the GPS data as a form of competition with other players. They look at their teammates to determine who had the most burst, top speed or highest workload. The Giants have found that using GPS devices has been a definite game changer that they are still mastering.

Police Find Prescription Drug Thief
Thanks To GPS Bottle

The Albuquerque police were able to
track down a suspect in
a pharmacy robbery with the help of a GPS-equipped prescription drug
bottle.

 Two
men went into a
local CVS and handed the pharmacist a note demanding he be given
OxyContin
pills around the time the store opened. Although they did not show any
weapons,
one of the suspects kept his hands inside of his pockets.

The CVS employee was thinking quickly
on her feet, when she
quick put some of the OxyContin pills in a bottle that was equipped
with GPS
tracking.

The employee told the police she used
a GPS-equipped bottle in the
set she gave the suspects. The detectives were then able to track the
GPS device down to a vehicle in the Bell Northwest and Walter area. When
they arrived on scene, a man was observed throwing the bottle out of the
passenger side window.

The authorities began pursuing the
vehicle. One of the male suspects jumped out of the vehicle and he attempted to run across
Highway I-25. That suspect was later identified as Roy Christopher.

Fortunately, the police were able to
apprehend Roy Christopher
without any issues. The police later said that Christopher admitted
that he passed the note to the CVS pharmacist and then took the pills she
handed him. According to criminal court documents, Roy Christopher only attempted
to get rid of the prescription bottle when he located the GPS tracking device.

Roy Christopher was then booked at
the Metropolitan Detention Center. He faces two charges: tampering with evidence and conspiracy to
commit a third degree felony.

GPS tacking devices are being used to
help police solve many
different types of cases from missing children to car thefts. Now,
prescription drug theft can be added to the type of crimes that GPS devices will
help to solve. What will be next?

GPS Used by Police To Track Missing Children

Police are now using GPS tracking
devices as a tool to track autistic children as well as other missing kids. This technology is
normally used to locate elderly individuals who have a tendency of wandering away.

An autistic child in Steilacoom,
Washington went missing.
The police took an hour and a half to locate the boy. Luckily, the boy
was
alright; however Detective Tom Yabe was unhappy with the amount of time
it
took.

Yabe declared “Time is absolutely of
the essence”. The town
of Steilacoom has many hazardous areas such as active train tracks and
the
waterfront. Yabe does not want the police department to wait until
there is a
tragedy for them to do more for the families with more vulnerable
children.

Approximately 50% of autistic
children tend to wander or
bolt. That is why Yabe started looking into wearable GPS tracking
technology commonly
used by Alzheimer patients or other elderly individuals. Some of the
systems
use radio transmissions and others use global positioning to track
people.

GPS tracking is much more precise,
but the devices can be
more expensive and they require recharging frequently. Yabe worried that the
children might try to wander away when devices are charging.

Radio transmitters just give the
missing person’s general location, but they last almost 30 continuous days without charging.

Steilacoom Police Chief Ron Schuab
says the promise of the new technology is to help the police as well as other agencies work
much smarter. He thinks there is great value in using this technology for
the parents.

There is a program offered by the
U.S. Department of Justice
that provides a grant for tracking devices. The town of Steilacoom is
requesting a grant from this program. They hope to have the new program
in place before winter. The county of Snohomish has a program called
Project Care-Track.
Other cities throughout the United States are also using GPS tracking
technology to find both adults and children.