State to Shadow Parolees With GPS

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Seven contractors have expressed interest in the state's $2.5 million pilot project that would use a global positioning system, or GPS, to keep track of violent sex offenders that have been paroled.

The tracking technology was first used in Florida in late 1990s to keep track of released felons, and some cities and counties in other states utilize GPS for similar uses.

The Tennessee project will not be used statewide for at least a year after it begins early in 2005. It will be focused in Memphis and Nashville and other parts of the state's three grand divisions.

"Basically, we want to have a good mix between urban and rural areas," said state Rep. Rob Briley (D-Nashville), chief House sponsor of legislation creating the pilot program.

The state Board of Probation and Parole will decide where to use the pilot program.

Initially, about half of the state's 1,200 registered sex offenders will be fitted with bracelets that will be tracked constantly by a GPS system monitored by law enforcement.

"You all are the first in the nation to do this," Mandy Wettstein of General Dynamics, one of the potential bidders on the project, told a news reporter. "The country will be watching to see how successful this sex offender tracking program is."

Tennessee is expected to award the contract by the end of the year.

The system would let law enforcement build maps with "zones of exclusion" for the sex offenders, such as playgrounds, schools, day-care centers or the homes of victims. It also would allow probation officers to determine whether the felons they are supervising are going to work during the day, going home at night and staying away from restricted areas.

Removing, vandalizing or tampering with a bracelet carries a mandatory jail sentence of 180 days for the first offense. Second and subsequent offenses are a felony and could result in immediate revocation of probation or parole.

The Legislature appropriated money for the system earlier this year, and lawmakers are hoping for a large return on the investment.

"If you can put people back out into the community and have a pretty high degree of assurance that he is not going to re-offend, then you can take them out of the prison system, make sure they are working, and they can bear some of the cost of the program," Briley said. "It becomes a massive cost-saving tool for the state in the long run."

The system is Internet-based, so any probation officer or law enforcement agent with access to the Web can use it. It also does not require constant monitoring, with e-mails alerting officers if an offender enters an exclusion zone.

The probation board will collect data on the program for a year before reporting to Gov. Phil Bredesen and the Legislature. If the program is taken statewide, it could include other types of offenders such as those convicted of domestic violence or those behind in child support payments.

"It is extremely exciting," said state Sen. Doug Jackson (D-Dickson), chairman of the Legislature's Corrections Oversight Committee. "This will give us the opportunity to reduce the demand for prison beds. By doing that, it will allow us to stiffen penalties for more serious felons that pose a much greater risk for the community."

< Of all the scary, fucked up shit we've seen, this is by far the worst. Every single person who even thinka of supporting this in any way, Anyone who does not get as far away as possible from it on first hearing needs to be removed from the planet. >