FreightWatch Sponsors Covert Tracking Units for Cargo Crime Task Forces
05/15/2007
At the 2007 Trucking Security & Law Enforcement Conference & Exhibition, May 15-17, in Orlando, Florida, FreightWatch International (USA) announced the company will provide covert cargo tracking technology to ten multi-jurisdictional Cargo Crime Task Forces across the United States for use in cargo theft sting operations and other initiatives to curb cargo theft. These high performance tracking units utilize the latest Assisted-GPS tracking technology, are smaller than a package of cigarettes, and may be hidden within any type of cargo. Using secure passwords, law enforcement agencies will be able to track the devices on any computer screen anywhere in the United States using a standard Web browser. The Freight Security Net (FSN) tracking service, FSNtracks, provides real-time tracking information for the U.S., and is expected to expand to Canada and Mexico within the next few years. As part of FreightWatch International’s agreement to provide tracking technology to Cargo Crime Task Forces across the U.S, the company has teamed with Lexington Insurance Company, a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and AIG Global Marine, a division of the AIG property and casualty insurance subsidiaries. Lexington and AIG Global Marine will subsidize the cellular airtime costs incurred in support of this initiative. The tracking units use cellular airtime when alerting law enforcement officials of their location. Ed Petow, FreightWatch’s Law Enforcement Liaison and formerly the Commander of TOMCATS, the Cargo Crimes Task Force in southern Florida, said “Cargo crime is a global problem. To effectively address the problem, Cargo Theft Task Forces need to be able to coordinate their activities and track stolen cargo across the whole country. This technology allows them to do that, all using the same devices, so that a task force in California can coordinate with a task force in Chicago to track stolen loads.” Alan F. Spear, Director of Cargo Security Loss Control for AIG Global Marine, said “We all need to step up to support law enforcement. We estimate that there are only about seventy-five full-time police offices in the United States working to investigate billions of dollars worth of cargo theft annually. Helping them helps our customers, their customers and the economy, especially if we can reduce cargo crime or make it harder to carry out.” Susan Chandler, Executive Director of the Security Council of American Trucking Associations, said, “Without a doubt, securing every step of the supply chain involves vigilance, collaboration, a sharing of resources, and innovation. FreightWatch USA, AIG Global Marine and Lexington Insurance have taken this to a new level. Having a single system that links Cargo Theft Task Forces’ prevention efforts nationwide will not only facilitate joint enforcement initiatives but may also suggest theft trends – all exciting prospects for an industry that annually trucks 11 billion tons of freight domestically and logs over 117 billion miles. Everyone benefits from having more resources and information, even those carriers that have successful prevention programs.” The Conference, at which the announcement was made, was hosted by the Security Council of American Trucking Associations and the National Commercial Vehicle and Cargo Theft Prevention Task Force. It theme, “Solutions in Our Sights,” reflected industry and law enforcement desire to find and share new and different working solutions to cargo theft prevention. About FreightWatch Contact: Bill Games |