By Chris Conley conley@gomemphis.com January 2, 2003

An out-of-this-world tracking tool is helping police capture auto thieves and carjackers.

Satellite-based navigation technology, increasingly common in high-end vehicles, makes it difficult, if not impossible, for car thieves to hide from police.

A vehicle equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) can quickly be tracked to within a few hundred feet, as recent police reports illustrate:

# On Dec. 5, a 2002 Cadillac was stolen from Elkins Street in Memphis. It was found the next day in Senatobia, Miss. Two juveniles were charged in the theft.

# On Nov. 30, Raymond 'Playa P' Penn was arrested in North Memphis and charged with carjacking a 2001 Cadillac just a few hours before. http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_1645865,00.html

[Unfortunately, stalkers have used GPS technology too.]

Memphis police already recover nearly 90 percent of the roughly 11,000 vehicles annually stolen here, and the new technology should increase the percentage, said Maj. William Walsh, head of the auto theft bureau.

-- Anonymous, January 02, 2003