Vicksburg to Track Workers with GPS

Vicksburg city employee Robert Hubbard will soon have his every move on the road monitored by GPS installed on a cell phone. But he welcomes big brother.

"It's a good idea. I don't plan to go any place I'm not supposed to. I plan to do what I'm supposed to do," said Hubbard, the director of community service.

It's a project six years in the making for Mayor Laurence Leyens. Back then he just wanted to track police officers. But newer cheaper technology on cell phones allows 200 vehicles to be tracked for about $3900 a month.

"The biggest thing is our managers can now manage their staff all the time actively and it creates absolute accountability for our city staff," Leyens said.

The employees won't be using the devices as cell phones. They'll be locked away in cases and kept inside the vehicles at all times. Police officers will also have tracking devices on them personally, providing additional safety and helping monitor and improve emergency response times.

"A lot of times we get out and we need back up," said Officer Steven Snow. "Sometimes it's unclear with 911 dispatch actually where we're at."

But being constantly monitored may not sit well with all city employees.

"I expect to have a certain percentage of my workforce say I don't want to work here, and that's okay," said the mayor. "Those are the people we're not interested in having."

The tracking system will be installed in 200 vehicles in the next couple of weeks. If successful, Mayor Leyens said he hopes to expand it to other moving equipment, like city lawn mowers.

Mayor Leyens said one Vicksburg police officer has already been fired after the tracking device revealed he did not respond to an emergency call near him. Instead, he turned around and drove in the opposite direction.