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By Greg Bartlett

State Rep. Anthony Weiner is concerned about the number of restraining orders in New York City. He believes that restraining orders would be more useful if they came with a GPS tracking system. Over a hundred thousand people in New York City file a restraining order every year. Most of these people are women.

Weiner believes that restraining orders are too difficult to enforce by themselves. He pointed out studies that have found 60% of restraining orders to have been violated within the first year. This politician believes that a real time GPS tracking system should be required for those who are issued a restraining order.

This plan would use the geo-fencing feature of the real time GPS tracking system. This could be set up to keep the offender away from the woman’s home or workplace. By notifying the police when the offender comes too close to the potential victim’s home, the authorities can respond before a beating or killing occurs. The main focus of this program is that lives can be saved if the police are alerted and can act immediately.

However, these systems could be helpful in other ways as well. Even if the police cannot get to the scene while the offender is still there, the GPS tracking system can be used as evidence in the case of domestic violence. The signal from the GPS could help a victim prove, for example that her ex-boyfriend broke into her home and beat her. Checking the GPS tracking system would show that he was indeed in that location and allow her to press charges.

Although this kind of a program would help police officers enforce restraining orders, it could also be seen as an invasion of privacy. A restraining order is not as serious as a criminal conviction, so it is debatable whether the authorities have a right to require the use of GPS tracking. Many New Yorkers are concerned that this program would invade the privacy of thousands of innocent people who have not done anything wrong.

More and more uses for GPS technology are being discovered every day. Unfortunately, many of those purposes that could be very helpful and could protect many lives could also be abused and misused to invade people’s privacy. In the next few years, lawmakers will be evaluating the many uses of GPS technology to ensure that it cannot be abused and that the rights of all citizens will be protected.