Prosecutors had no trouble securing the conviction of 27 year old Brandon Campbell this past Saturday. Campbell was accused of robbing as many as 15 homes in Colorado. During the robberies, Campbell was wearing an electronic ankle bracelet that monitored his whereabouts. The GPS tracking data from the bracelet put Campbell at the scene of […]
In California, convicted sex offenders out on parole are required to wear a GPS tracking device around their ankle. The device tracks the parolee’s location. If the wearer goes into a restricted area, such as a school or liquor store, an alert is sent to the offender’s parole officer. If the device is tampered with […]
In May 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the State of California to reduce prison population due to overcrowding, causing “the severe and unlawful mistreatment of prisoners through grossly inadequate provision of medical and mental health care.” Justice Kennedy wrote “For years the medical and mental health care provided by California’s prisons has fallen short of […]
In response to Diane Sawyer’s 20/20 interview with Jaycee Dugard last year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has since implemented several changes to its sex offender monitoring program. If you are unfamiliar with Dugard’s story, the gist is that at 11 years of age, Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped by Phillip & Nancy’s […]
Johnny Ray Morgan of Palm Bay is on probation for having sexually battered a child in 1995. After cutting off his court-ordered GPS tracking device, his probation officer was immediately notified. Probation officials then alerted Palm Bay police, who searched wooded locations in which Morgan had before camped, as recorded by previous GPS tracking data received. […]
Due to budget cuts, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been removing GPS tracking system devices from paroled, known gangsters. Unfortunately, at least one of the formerly tracked, Lawrence Lamar “Poopie” Jackio, is suspected of being involved in a home invasion-robbery, turned shooting – just one day after his ankle monitoring device was removed. […]
Earlier this week, the Tennessee’s Board of Probation and Parole reported that at “least 82 dead people on probation or parole were still alive” and actively being monitored via the States GPS tracking system. “At times, the parole officers were merely checking on arrest records for the deceased parolees, while in other cases the officers […]
Kristin Dacosta, 30, of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, is facing charges for larceny over $250 and for breaking and entering in the daytime while attempting to commit a felony, according to Police Chief Joseph Ferreira. This may sound like just another story. There is more. Dacosta, a parolee, is facing charges because of the GPS data […]
According to a study conducted by Utica College, 16.6% of the 90,000 registered sex offenders being monitored by GPS tracking devices may be skirting the system. Some of the ways to circumvent the court-ordered tracking system is by moving residences frequently, using various social security numbers, using aliases or varying the spelling of their names. […]
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has signed a bill this week that allows judges to order GPS tracking for people who violate restraining orders.
GPS tracking technology lets officers monitor convicts without actually keeping them incarcerated. Providing housing, security, food, health care, plus administrative costs etc. to prisoners is an expensive financial burden for most states in the US. Due to the high costs, some states are using a GPS system to track nonviolent prisoners as an alternative to keeping them locked up.
This type of GPS tracking allows authorities to monitor the criminals at all times without the responsibility of keeping them incarcerated. While the GPS tracking system make it easier for states to track offenders, the use of such systems does have its downsides.
