WV- Cabell County Tests GPS Home Confinement Monitors

11-29-2008 West Virginia:

A pilot project underway in Cabell County lead to a better tracking system for registered sex offenders and other criminals on home confinement.

HUNTINGTON -- Finding the address for a registered sex offender in West Virginia, is as simple as logging onto http://www.wvstatepolice.com.

But knowing the real-time location of a sex offender, may soon be just as easy for home confinement officers. "When they're [sex offenders] away from home, we don't really know where they are, and I think we can do better than that," said Cabell County Circuit Judge Dan O'Hanlon.

O'Hanlon is leading a pilot project to test GPS monitor bracelets for some criminals sentenced to home confinement, especially sex offenders.

"It allows us, as an organization, to better track the criminals and provide a more secure, safer environment," said Alternative Sentencing Director Oscar Adkins.

The home confinement officers attach the hardware to an offender's ankle, then track their electronic footprint through the Secure Alert satellite system and website. The program can also be tailored to each specific case.

"We can put zones of exclusion where there are parks, swimming pools, daycare centers, elementary schools, the home of a victim. And if a person goes anywhere near those, an alarm would be set off," said O'Hanlon.

-But, they cannot be programmed to sound an alarm if the offender enters a child's home everywhere in the United States, GPS does not prevent crime, it will do no more than pinpoint WHERE A PERSON WAS when a crime took place! That is not PREVENTION!

Advocates say it costs less than jail time and allows better security than the traditional home confinement system.

"If you're in jail, somebody is monitoring what you do, what you eat, what you wear, every minute of every day. If you have the privilege of serving your sentence on home confinement, we ought to be able to monitor you just as much as if you are in jail or prison," added Judge O'Hanlon.

Judge O'Hanlon will present a report to the State Supreme Court in six months regarding the success of the GPS pilot project.

If the results are positive, registered sex offenders and other criminals on home confinement could be required to wear the GPS monitors. ..News Source.. by Gina Long