Legal Research

Washington DC A National Leader in GPS Tracking of Criminals

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, April 2, 2008.

"More than 600 convicted offenders in the District of Columbia are being tracked by federal authorities using GPS satellite technology, more people per capita than any other state or city, officials said. The technology has been used to solve several violent crimes in the area, including the arrest of a convicted robber for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and kidnapping another in February, officials told the Washington Examiner. "

"Those being tracked with bracelets have been released from prison on parole or probation. GPS technology allows the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency to track them wherever they go. Each day, law enforcement agencies in the city plug the dates, time and place of major crimes into a computer system and cross-reference them with the movements of known offenders as provided by GPS tracking. The ankle bracelets are a condition of release for some convicted criminals, and authorities expect to expand its use to 800 people by the end of the year."

Washington Examiner

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).