A sober (and caffeinated) look at GPS tracking realities

This week brought two strong pieces from Seattle (“where coffee reigns”) that thoughtfully discuss the realities of the hottest development in technocorrections: GPS tracking. Here are links and excerpts from the pieces.

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer here, “GPS for state sex offenders gets split verdict”:

More than 40 states use the Global Positioning System to track offenders.  At least 15 require some kind of lifetime monitoring. In California, voters passed a punitive law last year requiring all felony sex offenders — about 4,000 people — to wear a tracker for life.

“We have so much business that we can hardly keep up with manufacturing. We’re exploding,” said David Segal, vice president of software development for Florida-based Pro Tech Monitoring, the country’s main provider of GPS correctional trackers.

In Washington, tracking was a largely unfunded, little-used program until September, when Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered immediate funding for it.

From the Seattle Times here, “Are GPS devices for sex offenders worth it?”:

More than 20 of the state’s most violent sex offenders are tethered to tracking devices that document their locations within a half-block.  The devices are at the heart of Gov. Christine Gregoire’s promise to keep people safe from sex predators.

On Wednesday, the governor asked the state Legislature for $8.2 million to better monitor sex offenders.  Nearly $1 million would go toward purchasing the tracking sets for the Department of Corrections (DOC); about $5 million would pay for in-person visits of sex offenders by law enforcement.

But community corrections officers doubt whether the $1,500 devices — ankle bracelets, locator boxes designed to be strapped on people’s belts and charging units — would ensure that sex offenders are abiding by the terms of their parole.