A Scenario of the Near Future

Let’s say you were robbed at gunpoint at an ATM machine (as I was in October of 2006). The robber escaped long before the police are able to arrive. But using a police dog, they were able to trace a fresh scent to a parking area by a dumpster where it suddenly ended. A police helicopter was called in. The infrared photography revealed a “hot spot” in that area of the parking lot where a vehicle had been. The trace unfortunately ended there, but I was left wondering how advances in technology could have brought it further.

Let’s say that the criminal had a GPS tracking device in his vehicle. The police would locate the exact spot where the vehicle was when the robbery occurred. They would quickly traced the path of the vehicle until the robber could have been arrested.

However, let’s say that the robber was techno-savvy and was able to disable his GPS device. Most public areas will have cameras that will record the make and model of all vehicles including license plate numbers. Even if that were not possible, satellite video would then be used. Even at night it will be possible to trace the headlights of a car from space and then use that tracking system to locate the vehicle of the fleeing suspect.