Parole officers in Georgia are now going into outer space to track convicted criminals living in this state.
In May, an 11Alive News investigation revealed that hundreds of sex offenders were living within a thousand feet of child day care centers placing them in violation of a new state law.
In an effort to better police sex offenders, parole officers are now using satellite technology to watch offenders at home or where ever they go.
In the past, the system was based on blind trust. Parole officers had no way to see every move of convicted criminals. But now, the criminal himself is drawing a picture.
The parolee either wears a device or it is attached to the sex offender’s vehicle. The device beams a signal into space. Through a global positioning satellite system, officers are told if the parolee is home when the offender is supposed to be home or if they be some place they are not supposed to be.
Officers don’t see the parolee’s movements until the end of each day when the offender plugs the device into a charger and the information about where the parolee has been is sent to the officer’s computer.
If the offender ventures inside what’s called an “exclusion zone” — for example, a parolee is not supposed to go around playgrounds or day care centers–the parole officer is alerted by e-mail and a text message.
The offender also has to wear an electronic ankle bracelet that helps to prevent the parolee from leaving the device at home. If the bracelet is separated from the device, or if the offender tries to remove it from their ankle, an alert is sent to his parole officer. The offender can be charged with violating parole and can be sent back to prison.
The system will be tested for the next year, then the state Department of Pardons and Paroles will decide if it’s worth the cost — as much as $8 a day for each device. A federal grant is currently paying part of the cost.
