Police Seek To Track Violent Offenders
Mayor Tomas M. Menino and Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O’Toole announced on Feb. 14 that officials will start urging judges in Boston to have electronic ankle bracelets put on violent criminals placed on probation. The measure will target repeat violators, who officials contend are causing a great deal of Boston’s crime surge.
At first, police and probation officers would employ 100 monitoring bracelets, but if the program takes off, they could try to include more offenders. Boston would be Massachusetts’ first city and seems to be the sole city in the Northeast utilizing the advanced GPS technology to follow violent criminals who are not sex offenders, officials stated.
GPS-connected ankle bracelets are on 92 serious sex offenders in Massachusetts, permitting authorities to monitor them all the time. The system permits as well for the notifying of officials if sex offenders enter areas, frequently schools and playgrounds, where they are prohibited.
O’Toole added that police intend to employ the devices to investigate crimes and will archive the information revealing the movement of violent offenders, so that police can exactly pinpoint who was and was not at a crime scene.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Boston Globe (02/15/06) P. A1; Smalley, Suzanne
