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This is ���pinging.��� These ping records are stored no more than a day before they are overwritten. Then the evidence of the event is lost. While a ping is a real event, records are not kept. The ability to ping a phone varies by cellular service provider. Verizon, for example, cannot ping a cell phone. The best they can do is provide the nearest cell tower, and only if the person is making / receiving a call or sending / receiving a text message. The person you are live tracking is only going to take one or two ���wrong numbers��� sent by you to make his / her cell phone hit a tower. AT&T; can ping their phones and they will do it for felonies and misdemeanors alike. Their result can be accurate to within 32 yards of the latitude /longitude. Sprint-Nextel calls a ping L-Site Data. Pinging Has Limitations There are some issues with ping live tracking. First, since all of the systems use GPS, the GPS has to be activated. The GPS signal can be ���hidden��� by one of the settings on some phones, and / or ���limited��� in only 9-1-1 situations. Second, GPS-enabled phones can only be located if they are turned ON. If the phone is OFF, there is no GPS connection. Third, GPS live tracking is only as good as the reception. Beside tall buildings, under bridges or tunnels, or in heavily forested terrain, the GPS signal may be lost. Fourth, pings are sent in 15-minute intervals at the most frequent. Unless the subject stays in one place for more than 15 minutes, you will always be behind ��� chasing the ping. That 15-minute interval may not be an issue in a live track on the interstate from Chicago to Dallas. But it may indeed be a problem as you tail or track a subject from the south side of Chicago to downtown. Live tracking using GPS follows the handset, not the cell tower. Historical tracking, on the other hand, uses cell towers, and a record is kept. However, some activity had to occur to have a record. A call had to be sent / received. A text had to be sent / received. Some app on the phone had to be used. Historical Tracking Cell Site Analysis (CSA) is the science of reconstructing the physical movements of a mobile phone or communication device. The evidence from this advanced investigation can attribute contact between individuals, indicate proximity to a crime scene, defne patterns of movement of suspects, and confrm or dispute alibi statements. To perform a Cell Site Analysis, you have to understand how cell towers are built and operate. Most (but not all) cell towers are three-sided. On each of these sides, there are three panels. The middle panel is the transmitter, while the outer panels are the receivers. The two outside panels ���listen��� for inbound signals. Something like how our two ears compare slight differences in sound to determine location and direction of movement, these two outside panels do the same. This allows a smooth hand-off from tower to tower when the caller is mobile. Each tower has three directional antennas. A directional antenna receives signals with more intensity from the direction it is pointed. It flters this, versus signals it receives from directions outside its feld. With serious injury and fatal traffic crashes, spend more time investigating the driver���s cell phone. While texting at the exact time of the crash may be hard to prove, distracted driving may be easier to prove. Texting while driving has formed the basis for a manslaughter charge in some states. Cell Site Analysis The Cell Site Analysis (CSA) starts with a court order or search warrant requesting call detail records with the cell tower that were used doing the call. The CSA, with information from particular tower locations, will tell you what parts of the city you are in but not what street you are on. For most investigations, knowing the handset was in a general area���and could not have been in another area���is enough to confrm or deny an alibi about a date, time, location. The CSA will only allow an investigator to state the call was from an area covered by the cell tower, not a single address. That means it is better suited to eliminate alibi locations than to prove the handset was in one specifc house or block. However, some pretty strong inferences can be made based on the CSA and how towers work. Most towers are divided into three 120-degree sides. (Some are six 60-degree sides.) Depending on the cellular service provider who operates the cell tower, these sectors will be identifed as 1,2,3; A,B,C; Alpha, Beta, Gamma for a beam width of 120-degree coverage tower. For a 60-degree coverage tower, combinations of this alpha-numeric will identify which slice of the pie is involved. Each tower has a reception range from less than a mile to 12 miles. Each area covered by the sector can be narrowed to within one-tenth of a mile. Side 1 on AT&T; and Verizon towers faces north. This is for the typical tower���exceptions exist. If possible, ask for cell tower information within 7 to 15 days. www.lawandordermag.com 53