In the contemporary global community, crimes have abruptly and obviously become prevalent in such a manner that one could boldly assert that they are swiftly becoming synonymous with the modern society otherwise known as the ‘digital age’.
As such uncalled and barbaric activities prevail unabated, it has conspicuously become imperative for the concerned authorities in every affected area to think inwards with a view to initiating new innovative mechanisms towards combating them.
Mobile technology such as tracking devices otherwise known as ‘trackers’, which has emerged as a powerful crime-fighting tool, has shown significant impact in recent years on most countries across the globe.
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A tracker is specially programmed equipment meant to trace the actual location of a person or thing. However, it’s worth noting that devices like cell phones, computers, cameras, and what have you, can equally function as a tracker if adequately utilized.
Cell phones, particularly Smartphones, contain inbuilt mechanisms including Global Positioning System (GPS) among other location information that the various law enforcement agencies find valuable. Information like voice call history, text/multimedia messages, phonebook contacts, web browser history, and email, can tremendously help investigators to gather people’s aims and the occasions they have attended, thereby providing the required direction.
Tracking people via their mobile devices has been adopted by several agencies in most nations, and has become very much a part of most investigations because virtually every adult now possesses a cell phone. Cell phone records can identify calls made and received.
The cellular towers that were used in the conversation, data communication, as well as the Short Message Service (SMS), can as well be obtained. The cell phone records hold latitude and longitude information that can be used as a historical reference to identify where the mobile device was at a particular period.
Similarly, citizens are advised to regularly send digital photos and videos of crimes in their custody to apt quarters. New technology allows sent images to be directly linked to the record of a related call, and be forwarded to emergency respondents on their way to the crime scene.
A good example of such technology is CrimePush, a multiplatform Smartphone app that allows users to report crimes effectively and at ease. It equally gives users the ability to forward multiple GPS-tagged distress messages to designated emergency contacts/quarters.
High-profile criminal incidents all over the world have proven beyond doubts how valuable mobile phone images can be during crime investigations. The bombings in the United Kingdom (UK), precisely London, in July 2005 marked a turning point in news coverage and the role of camera phone images.
Witnesses to the attacks used their cell phone cameras to record their experiences in the aftermath. Not only did it signal a new era of citizen journalism, but police in London were able to use the sent photos as clues towards tracking the terrorists that masterminded the bombings.
SMS is more discreet and safer in some circumstances to include burglaries and kidnapping. Several police departments in various countries have text-a-tip programs that allow people to send anonymous messages from their cell phones.
With a view to providing people with a confidential means of communication, SMSs are sent to a separate third-party server where identifying information is removed and assigned an encrypted alias to ensure callers’ anonymity.
The various security agencies in Nigeria, especially the police, are required to fully employ the use of various tracking devices in issues regarding crimes. Technology is being developed and deployed by several criminals to perpetrate crimes, with the aim of leaving no, or little, digital footprint. This ranges from selling illicit goods on the internet to mass identity theft and credit card fraud.