WI- Republicans blast proposed changes to sex offender monitoring

Read this carefully to see all of the Republican complaints, then ask, where is their suggestion to resolve the issue? It appears all they want to do is complain, actually, and you won't hear this from me often, the Gov. reasoning (THIS TIME) to save money is sound! There is no proof that active monitoring makes the public more safe than passive monitoring, for those who have been on GPS for years already.

3-1-2009 Wisconsin:

Weeks before the 2006 election in which he sought a second term, Gov. Jim Doyle touted his willingness to punish sex offenders, including signing a law requiring real-time electronic monitoring of some of the worst sex offenders for life.

"This expanded GPS will help law enforcement know exactly where these people are every minute of every day," Doyle said in statement at the time. "And if they go someplace where they put kids in danger and violate their probation, we’ll know immediately and we’ll put them back behind bars."

Now, the Democratic governor wants to give the Department of Corrections the ability to lift the minute-by-minute, post-prison monitoring of some sex offenders in the program, known as "active" tracking, and electronically watch them less intensely, called "passive" tracking.

The proposal, which Doyle included in his 2009-11 budget plan, has prompted outrage from Republicans, who said it would make the public less safe.

"What the governor is doing is gutting the toughest sex predator program in the country," said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, who authored the tracking law. "These are the worst of the worst of child sex predators, and he is basically letting them go on the streets of Wisconsin to save a few bucks."

Rick Raemisch, Corrections secretary, said the move would make the program more efficient by focusing tracking resources on the worst offenders.

"If a person behaves themselves, is a model citizen, has changed, has accepted treatment, has followed treatment, treatment’s successful and … he’s in the 18th year of supervision, it just makes sense to be more efficient" by using passive monitoring, he said.

Corrections officials say it’s unclear how many of the 748 sex offenders projected to be under lifetime GPS monitoring by the end of the 2009-11 biennium would be passively tracked if the proposal is adopted. No estimates were developed when the proposal was prepared, said Ismael Ozanne, executive assistant at Corrections.

It’s also not clear how much money the Department of Corrections might save.

But John Dipko, a prison system spokesman, said it costs state taxpayers about $8 per offender per day to monitor each sex offender in real time versus $4 per offender under passive monitoring.

Doyle’s budget calls for spending $8.3 million on the tracking program in 2009-11; Corrections requested $10.3 million.



Active vs. passive

The sex-offender tracking law required the state to electronically monitor the worst sex offenders in real time starting in January 2008.

Among those tracked after they are released from prison are people who raped a child under age 12, those convicted of multiple sex offenses and mentally impaired sex offenders who are no longer in state custody.

Currently, 157 offenders are on electronic monitoring, all but 11 actively, Ozanne said.

Those on "active" monitoring are required to carry a portable tracking device, and their locations are transmitted to computers at the state monitoring center, Dipko said.

Each offender must avoid certain locations, such as schools, day care centers or the neighborhoods of victims of sex crimes. If they violate those restrictions, the center is immediately alerted and workers notify local and national law enforcement, Dipko said.

Offenders on passive monitoring must also carry a portable tracking device. But the record of their movements is downloaded to state computers only when offenders recharge their tracking devices, which occurs at least once within 24 hours, Ozanne said.

If an offender on passive monitoring enters an area that is off limits, the state is only alerted when the record is downloaded, not when the transgression occurs, he said. Monitors then notify authorities, Ozanne said. Authorities are also contacted if an offender fails to recharge a battery according to a pre-arranged schedule, he said.

If there has been no transgression by an offender on "passive" monitoring, tracking officials still review the record the day it comes in, he said.



Offenders won’t run ‘wild’

Republicans say passive monitoring makes it more likely that sex offenders will commit other crimes.

"The most important part of GPS tracking is these child predators know they’re being watched every minute of every day," said Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc. "That is what keeps recidivism rates down."

Raemisch called the way GOP lawmakers have characterized Doyle and his proposal "insulting." Doyle, he said, has a long track record of cracking down on sex offenders, including forcing delinquent offenders to comply with the state’s sex offender registry.

The state plans to continue real-time monitoring of the most serious sex offenders, Raemisch said. Doyle’s plan allows corrections experts in sex offenses discretion to determine who is a threat to a community.

"This isn’t going to be something where suddenly there’s going to be sex offenders running wild because the Department of Corrections isn’t going to monitor them," he said. "That’s as far from the truth as anything. It’s the opposite. We believe we can handle our GPS units more efficiently if the law will allow it."

Ozanne also said new technology is being developed so that passive tracking could allow for immediate alerts to the monitoring center if an offender enters a forbidden location.

Legislature’s reaction?

It’s unclear what kind of reception Doyle’s proposal will get from the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, hasn’t reviewed it, a spokeswoman said last week. A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, had no immediate comment Friday.

Suder said he will try to persuade his Democratic colleagues not to adopt Doyle’s proposal. "I think the public is going to be outraged, and with public support we’re going to change this," Suder said. ..News Source.. by MARK PITSCH