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Thursday, May 27, 2004

GPS May Be Used to Keep Eye on Criminals

By Ruben Gonzales
Mountain View Telegraph
    A new GPS monitoring system used to track people going through the judicial system may be in Torrance County's future.
    The system would improve on current electronic monitoring of offenders by using global positioning technology to pinpoint their locations— rather than simply notifying authorities when the offenders leave home.
    It could even be used to alert authorities if, for example, a sex offender approaches a school.
    Kathy Autry, the court compliance officer who oversees electronic monitoring for Torrance County, said the current tracking system is outdated.
    "You only know when they come and go," she said.
    With the current system, a person must wear a bracelet that transmits to a unit in their home, Autry said. When the bracelet and the unit are separated, she said, a pager lets her know someone has left home— but it doesn't tell her where the person has gone.
    Usually, people on the monitoring system are allowed to go to work, but it is difficult to track them when they leave home for other reasons, she said. With the new GPS system that she wants the county to purchase, Autry said someone can be pinpointed to an exact location.
    Using computer software that includes area maps, Autry said offenders appear as dots on a computer screen and their movements can be monitored.
    The GPS system also allows the court monitor to map the area where an offender lives. It can then outline areas they are not permitted to enter, such as a sex offender who is required to stay away from schools, she said. When that person enters an area they are not supposed to be in, the court compliance officer is notified and can take immediate action.
    The difference between the two systems, she said, is someone on the GPS system must wear both a transmitting bracelet and the corresponding receiving unit for tracking purposes.
    Lee Kicker, regional sales manager for Pro Tech Monitoring in Florida, a GPS system provider, said the ankle bracelet system is "a glorified curfew monitor."
    "You wouldn't have gotten in trouble in high school if you knew your mother was always watching you," he said.
    With GPS monitoring, he said, the anonymity of an offender is removed. Someone's movements can be tracked to see if they have participated in crime while on the monitoring system, Kicker said.
    Statistics from Florida have shown that recidivism rates for people out on parole or probation have dropped, he said.
    Although the system has the approval of County Manager Bob Ayre as well as district and magistrate judges, funding for the system is uncertain, Autry said.
    She estimates it would cost the county about $35,000 a year for the new monitoring system but said that cost could fluctuate depending on the system's yearly volume of use and the provider chosen.
    Once the county's new budget is approved in June, Autry said she will know if there are funds available for the GPS system.
    Electronic monitoring is an effective way to cut the incarceration costs that burden the county's finances, she said.
    She said local judges and the county juvenile probation system often place someone on electronic monitoring while they are waiting to go to court. Many times people are on the bracelet system for up to six months, she said— which is still cheaper than keeping them in jail.
    She said the in-house arrest system of electronic monitoring reduces the number of people in jails. She can monitor people as they go to and from work, she said, rather than the county paying to house them in detention facilities.
    Through speaking with one GPS tracking system provider, Autry said she knows the high-tech system is used in other areas of the state but was not certain about exact locations.
    Kicker said Pro Tech has GPS users in 33 states and has been providing GPS monitoring since 1997. New Mexico is not currently on the Pro Tech list of users, he said.