Technology to the Rescue!
Sevierville police announced today that an arrest had been made yesterday of a man suspected of 41 separate burglaries of local cabins. The prime target in these crimes were the popular flat panel big screen television sets that are in such demand in rental properties. Unfortunately these TV sets are also very easy for a criminal to convert into cash making cabins that have them very much at risk of being broken into. While some rental agencies have advised owners to remove flat screen televisions from their properties to decrease the risk of a break-in, one owner took a much wiser approach.
The thief was captured and the crime spree halted because at least one owner of a stolen plasma display television had hidden a small GPS/Cellular transmitter inside the set which began transmitting a location signal as soon as the TV was removed from the owner's rental cabin. Using a website provided by the device manufacturer the owner was able to provide the exact address of the television set which was returned to the owner after police staked out the location and arrested the occupant.
After doing a little research these devices are extremely affordable and make a tremendous amount of sense for all sorts of crime and unauthorized use prevention efforts. Although I'm not sure of exactly what brand of device was used here is a link to a company that makes a very similar device which has been effective in solving a similar crime recently. These GPS transmitters are well worth considering as our world becomes less law abiding, even here in the relatively low crime rate Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Smoky Mountain Water Wells but were Afraid to Ask!

Unlike more urban communities, many Smoky Mountain homes still have water supplied by individual underground wells. The fact is that only a relatively small (but ever growing) portion of our area is served by municipal utility water. This is rarely a problem as wells here in the Gatlinburg and surrounding area usually produce clear and good tasting water for significantly less cost than utility water once the one-time expense of drilling the well is covered. In fact, while there are certainly exceptions, our area is known for exceptionally clean and good tasting well water. More than one brand of bottled water is actually drawn from underground sources right here in the Smokies. What can go wrong you ask? Unfortunately, plenty! In those relatively rare cases where a well’s iron or sulfur content causes the water to be unsuitable, a water filtration system can generally be installed to remedy the situation. Water filtration can be as basic as a very inexpensive cotton string filter th
Read more

Comments Please!

I have had this blog since 2003 but didn't really get serious about regularly writing here until the beginning of 2007. I do truly enjoy the opportunity to share my thoughts about our local Gatlinburg area real estate market including the surrounding communities of Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Seymour, Kodak, and Cosby. The only problem with writing any type of blog is that you really aren't sure just how many people are reading much less care about what you are pontificating about. If you are reading this blog, regularly or for the very first time, PLEASE comment me. It's easy, painless, and won't leave any sort of mark. In fact, you can even remain totally anonymous but yet let me know that you are out there. Like the age old question of "If a tree falls in the forest with nobody there to hear, does it make a noise?", a blog writer could wonder "If I write something meaningful but nobody reads it, does it matter?". If you like, you can even tel
Read more

Comments Please!!

Just wondering how many folks are out there reading this Gatlinburg real estate blog.  Please comment with your home town - You can even stay anonymous if you wish. If you want, tell me more about yourself (if you already own property in Sevier County or are just considering doing so, what you would like me to write about in the future, etc.).  Thanks in advance for your comments, whatever they might be!!
Read more