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Constable's Office Places GPS Tracking Systems in Units

6 years 8 months 2 weeks ago Wednesday, July 12 2017 Jul 12, 2017 July 12, 2017 6:36 PM July 12, 2017 in News

EDINBURG - A Rio Grande Valley Constable's Office is using GPS technology to keep track of its deputies. It's all part of a plan to make the department more efficient.

Last year, the Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Constable invested $10,000 of tax money in Rastrac. It’s a GPS tracking system allowing the constable to monitor deputies' units from their office. The idea is to make local law enforcement more efficient.

Edinburg resident Gilbert Medina said he is still taking his own steps to ensure his security.

Medina built a house on Trenton Road in Edinburg back in 1980. Now, he is handing it down to his daughter so she may raise her family. But he is installing a fence to make sure she is secure. He said he has good reason to be concerned.

"In the last month, we lost an RV trailer, a 33 footer and a utility trailer, a box trailer," said Medina.

Medina added he called the authorities but the stolen trailers were never recovered.

He said he is not opposed to his precinct's constable using a GPS tracking system to monitor its deputies.

"They should be more scheduled to their daily routine, where their supervisor knows where they are," he said.

But Medina said the idea of a GPS tracking system is not enough for him to sleep well at night.

"I would just like to see more law enforcement present," he added.

Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Constable Sgt. Andrew Perez agrees more law enforcement presence is needed in Edinburg. But he said the tracking system keeps his officers on the move at less expense to the taxpayers.

"The 19 vehicles that we have equipped with the Rastrac tracking device is beneficial to the constable's office and the community members. The only reason is because we are able to see the idling time of the fleet vehicles, the speed and we do receive notifications if there's a vehicle notification for that vehicle," said Perez.

Perez said if a resident in his precinct files a report with his office, the constable can backtrack the GPS monitoring system to see where their officers were at the time.

Perez added, two months ago, his office received a complaint of a precinct 4 constable deputy speeding in their unit.  He said when his office backtracked the GPS system, the constable confirmed the deputy was speeding.

Perez said the deputy was counseled by his supervisors for the incident.

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