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By Greg Bartlett

Just how safe are domestic violence victims, really?  Will that piece of paper with the words “restraining order” written across the top really help?  Is the offender going to come back and surprise the victim at work or home, or maybe while she’s picking up the kids?  Even if he doesn’t hurt her, his presence will frighten her and make her feel threatened in the areas where she’s supposed to be safe.

GPS Monitoring & Victim Safety

Domestic violence victims have already gone through enough pain and trauma.  They don’t need the additional worry that the offender will show up in their safe areas, areas the offender has been forbidden by the court to go.  But what if the offender goes anyway?  The victim will be at least frightened, at worst injured or even killed.

Keeping domestic violence victims safe has long been a challenge since offenders often have to be released back into the community eventually, and no one can keep track of them every minute of the day.  At least, not until recently.  Advances in technology now allow courts to use GPS monitoring to help ensure that domestic violence victims stay safe.  With a GPS device, police, probation, and parole officers can tell exactly where an offender is at any time, allowing the offender to be released from jail or prison but still closely watched to ensure proper behavior.

Perhaps even more importantly for the victim, GPS monitoring will alert the victim and police if the offender enters certain areas.  Usually these areas will be the victim’s home, place of work, and her children’s school.  Although the GPS device won’t stop the offender, it will give the victim advance warning so that she can avoid a face-to-face meeting and perhaps thus avoid injury as well.  If the offender gets too close, she’ll be notified and can leave while the police, also having been alerted, will pick up the offender for violating the order to leave the victim alone.

Despite assurances of the court and promises of a restraining order, domestic violence victims are often not safe and are often pursued by the offender, who may eventually injure or even kill the victim.  Many victims’ families, having lost a loved one because a domestic violence offender wasn’t stopped, are pressing for courts to use GPS monitoring devices to help protect the loved ones of others.  Domestic violence victims aren’t safe yet, but GPS monitoring is a strong step towards helping to fully protect them.