A High-Tech Way to Guard Christmas

Everyone has his or her own way of celebrating the holidays. For some, tradition involves setting up a Nativity scene outside their homes. But when baby Jesus goes missing, what is a person to do? Of course, you can file a police report, but the chances of getting your property back are still pretty slim. If you’ve followed the latest trend of mounting a GPS device inside the figurine, however, your chances for returned property and justice may increase.

Last year, the Wellington, Fla. community center’s baby Jesus was stolen. This is the second time this has happened, so this year, officials were prepared: They took a GPS unit that was typically used to track the application of mosquito spray and implanted it in the replacement figurine. After the second figurine disappeared, sheriff’s deputies simply followed the signal to a nearby apartment where they found the baby Jesus and arrested an 18-year-old woman in connection with the theft.

As it turns out, GPS tracking of personal property is becoming quite popular: a number of churches, synagogues, governments, and ordinary citizens like you and I are trading in their old padlocks and turning to technology to protect holiday displays from pranks or prejudice. Recognizing this trend, New York-based BrickHouse Security is offering up to 200 nonprofit religious institutions a free month's use of security cameras and LightningGPS products.

For some families, a GPS device just isn’t what they’re looking for. Instead of GPS, the Herrera family of Richland Hills, Texas installed surveillance cameras on their yard after their teeter-totter was stolen. Not long after, footage showed a teenage girl stealing a baby Jesus worth almost $500.