share.triangle.com - Should sex offenders wear GPS? - Comments

GPS monitoring? Impractical- flawed science

Visitor — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:48:53 -0400

While this may have appeal to many folks, its a impossibility. Its a simple law of physics- No GPS device can be "tracked" inside a building, car, tunnel, etc. The signal is not great enough. They would simply dissappear.

Furthermore- these devices would interfere with medical imaging technology, such as MRI, CAT scans and x-rays and must be removed.

HARRISBURG, July 22, 2008

feliduca — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:51:38 -0400

HARRISBURG, July 22, 2008 – Auditor General Jack Wagner today recommended that the Pennsylvania State Police and the Board of Probation and Parole should request that the General Assembly amend the state’s Megan’s Law to require five years of global positioning system (GPS) monitoring for sex offenders who break the state law requiring them to verify their addresses.

Wagner also recommended that the state police and probation board should request that the General Assembly amend Megan’s Law to require at least five years of GPS monitoring for all sexually violent predators whose victims are children.

Wagner made the recommendations in a special report, released today, which disclosed that, in early June, the state had lost track of 923, or nearly 10 percent, of the state’s approximately 9,800 registered sex offenders.

“Because the primary purpose of the Megan’s Law registry is to help protect the public by letting community residents know where convicted sex offenders live, Pennsylvania should use every tool available to make sure the offenders keep their address registrations up to date,’’ Wagner said. “Children are our most precious and vulnerable members of our society, and we must do all that we can to keep them safe by not losing track of a single sex offender.’’

Megan’s Law is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered by a twice-convicted sex offender in 1994. Pennsylvania passed its initial version of Megan’s Law in 1995.

The Pennsylvania State Police is the lead state agency for administering the commonwealth’s Megan’s Law, including maintaining information on the public Web site, www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us. The Web site provides the public such information as each sex offender’s name, home address and work or school address, as well as a physical description including height, weight and eye color. It also lists the type of crime for which each sex offender was convicted.

A review by Department of the Auditor General auditors estimated that at least 64 of the state’s registered sexually violent predators had been convicted of crimes against minors.

Wagner’s report noted that at least 33 states, as well as at least 14 Pennsylvania counties, already use GPS technology to track certain registered sex offenders. At present, Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law permits, but does not require, the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole or county probation authorities to use GPS technology to track sex offenders.

Global positioning systems can pinpoint a person’s physical location using satellites in orbit. Offenders wear GPS tracking devices that detect the satellite signals and allow law enforcement officials to track the offenders’ movements almost minute by minute.

Pennsylvania counties using GPS typically charge sex offenders one-time hook-up fees of $30 to $50 and daily rates of $5 to $20 to cover equipment costs. County officials said that most offenders were able to pay the fees.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the probation board conducted a GPS pilot program in five different geographic locations from October 2005 until June 2006 but were disappointed by technological shortcomings such as a loss of satellite coverage in certain areas and various equipment malfunctions.

Wagner said that technological advances since then have made GPS more reliable, and that its advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Among the advantages: GPS is the highest level of supervision available, short of incarceration; GPS data can be used in court; and GPS can serve as a deterrent to criminal behavior.

“While GPS technology cannot prevent a crime from occurring, it can provide critical, verifiable information either to place a sex offender at the scene of a committed crime or to rule the offender out,’’ Wagner said. “There is no reason why Pennsylvania should not revise the present Megan’s Law to require GPS monitoring of our most violent sexual predators as well as sex offenders who have broken the law by failing to register their addresses.’’

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Submited by : Bajar Libros

sex offenders & GPS monitoring

Visitor — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:03:37 -0400

It should only be done on a case by case basis. There are people who have been victims themselves and can be treated and rehabilitated. My brother is one of those cases.My father sexually abused me & my three brothers while we were growing up.He was never charged,he abused others in the family too. He never even admitted guilt. It was the big "secret"in our family. My dad always tried to get my oldest brother to be just like him. He was a drug user and alcoholic.Owned adult bookstores etc. My brother held it together for forty years and never had any incidents. He has a 19 year old daughter that he had a normal healthy relationship with. But after our mother died accidently he turned to alcohol and became a "closet" alcoholic. He had one incident with his girlfriends daughter and admitted guilt and sought treatment for the first time in his life. But it was too late because now he is paying the price for all the abuse my father committed. Ironically my brother was sentenced to prison for 18 yrs the week my dad died alone in a hospital of liver failure. The hospital called him at the prison the morning after he arrived because he was the oldest child. He is completely rehabilitated now and still has 8 more years -- but his life is ruined forever because he admitted to something his abuser never did.

A WASTE OF TIME and TAX PAYERS MONEY.......To an extent.

Visitor — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:53:14 -0400

It depends on the severaty of the crime. If they are continuously in and out of jail and or prison , then yes. If they have just that one offense against them and have had no other charges prior or after their charge was given and prove to be a good person then no. Everyone deserves a second chance. It could have been an 19yo person with their 16 or 17 yo mate at the time. In that case, an angry parent may have had them charged with the crime of having sex with an underaged person. That really is not fair and should be ruled unconstitutional. They are still human beings who have the right to learn and prove themselves to be in society without a label. EVERYONE has done something we're sorry for and hope for forgiveness. If this world were full of unforgiveness, then where would we be?

Hold on, people...

rhodent — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:35:20 -0400

Why is everyone here assuming "sex offender" is synonymous with "child molester"? There are any number of sex offenses that have nothing to do with children.

Some people have been branded "sex offender" because at the age of eight they were caught touching a classmate inappropriately. Some people have branded "sex offender" because at the age of sixteen they were caught having consensual sex with their fifteen-year-old boyfriend or girlfriend.

I have no problem with tracking those who are truly a danger to children. But in a "must protect the children!" mania, many have lost sight of what constitutes a true danger to childen. Until a better job of this is done, I don't support tracking devices on all sex offenders.

THEY'VE PROVEN THEY CAN'T BE REHABILITATED

Visitor — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:02:25 -0400

Haven't we learned anything from the past 5 years. They are animals and committing these actions against kids deserve the harshest punishment possible, until they understand it is not worth it!!! As long as they see the the punishment is worth the risk things will not change.

YES,YES,YES,THEY SHOULD HAVE

Amy Smith — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:10:23 -0400

YES,YES,YES,THEY SHOULD HAVE TO WEAR THE TRACKING DEVICES FOREVER!!! Once a pedophile,ALWAYA A PEDOPHILE!!! If other criminals destroy a child's life,then yeah,slap one on them too! Aww,so they are inconvenienced by a few extra pounds,DEAL WITH IT!!! OUR CHILDREN,THEIR VICTIMS WILL FOREVER CARRY AROUND WHAT THOSE SICK BASTARDS DID TO THEM!!! YEARS OF THERAPY,SOMETIMES NOT HELPFUL,VERSUS A FEW EXTRA POUNDS?! HMM,THINK ABOUT IT....MOTHERS OUT THERE,WHICH WOULD YOU PICK?!!!! THIS JUDGE NEEDS TO BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY,ALL PEDOPHILES THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE RIGHT TO HAVE TRACKING DEVICES REMOVED...KILLED,OR WORSE!--speaking from a mother's view....PUT THE DEVICES BACK ON ALL OF THE PEDOPHILES!!! THEY CANNOT BE REHABILITATED,THEY WILL DO IT AGAIN,AND AGAIN,UNTIL IT IS MADE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM,PERIOD!!!

gps

Visitor — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:40:56 -0400

Yes, yes, they should always have to wear them, if the law allows them to leave jail, then we need to be able to keep up with any type of sex offender. As far as I am concerned, sex offenders should not be out on the streets! It has been proven that someone who rapes, will do so again, or mistreats children will do it again. The laws need to be improved for this!

Lifelong gps monitoring

Visitor — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:00:06 -0400

NO! NO! NO!If sex offender laws are keep, why disciminate?If sex offenders must suffer for life so should anyone who has a criminal record, murders, drug dealer,thiefs. these people are eveywhere. why are sex offenders the "scape goats" It's unconstitutional. Everyone with a criminal record shourd obide by the same laws sex offenders have to or it's discrimination.

Lifelong GPS monitoring devices

Betty A. Ossi — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:51:00 -0400

YES, YES, AND YES............Children are the FUTURE of this country. We must protect them, NOW, at all costs. Nothing else will be acceptable. I am "calling-to-arms" my family members and friends, the Governor, Senators, and all 13 district Congressmen/women to protect the Rights of our children. Is this what it all comes down to.....offenders get "punished" for taking indecent liberties with a minor, and then again "punished" for doing it again? ENOUGH!!!!! They should wear it for life, forced to stay home for 6 hours (they do sleep, don't they) and a bear in the wild is not taking indecent liberties with their young!!!!!

Should sex offenders wear GPS?

mwilliam — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:27:26 -0400

Do you think sex offenders should wear a lifelong GPS monitoring device once they’re released from prison?

Click here to view the North Carolina sex offender registry.

Do you think sex offenders should wear a lifelong GPS monitoring device once they’re released from prison? Click here to view the North Carolina sex offender…