By Greg Bartlett
People commit crimes every day. Some are as serious as murder while others might be as simple as petty larceny. But the concern that any community faces is what to do with the criminals who are caught and convicted. The most dangerous should be kept away from the community, yes, but what about others who don’t seem quite as dangerous? What about the car thief or the man who lost his temper and hit his wife? Prison may not seem like the best option for them, but how can the community ensure that these people won’t endanger others if they are released?
GPS & Public Protection
GPS monitoring allows police and the community to keep track of offenders who live in the neighborhood. For instance, two teens were arrested this week in Canada after they stole a car, drove it recklessly, and then crashed it. They’d apparently already stolen a number of cars, so police didn’t want to just release them even though they weren’t violent and, other than stealing cars, didn’t present a threat to the community. Instead, the teens are being monitored with GPS tracking so that police know exactly where the teens are at any time and can even be alerted if they go out at certain times of the day or into certain areas.
Or what about the domestic violence offender? Sometimes these offenders may have just lost their temper and would never harm the victim again, but sometimes they’ll come back and injure or even kill the victim. GPS monitoring allows police to keep track of the offender and even set up boundaries where the offender isn’t allowed to enter. For instance, the victim’s home, workplace, and her children’s school may be off-limits, and if the offender enters one of these areas the GPS monitoring device will alert both her and police. She can then avoid a confrontation with the offender while police pick him up for violating the order to leave her alone.
Prisons may be the best way for communities to protect itself from criminals, especially violent ones. However, in order to keep prison populations low and thus less costly to the public, releasing minimal-risk offenders may be necessary. GPS monitoring allows the offender to be safely integrated back into the community with a low risk while keeping a close eye on the offender to ensure that he or she does not return to his or her crime.
