GPS Tracking

It’s All About Safety Measures

Will it Work as Planned?

New Haven, Connecticut is rolling out a new GPS monitoring system to aid in the tracking of those who have been convicted of violent domestic crimes.  The idea behind this effort is to not only track the offenders, but be able to provide timely alerts should they violate the terms of their sentences.

The victims will also have a small device that delivers a message should an offender violate a pre-set boundary in their area.  Also, the victims will be supplied with cell phones so that an automated system can make a call to them and the police agency simultaneously to notify them of the violation.

Is all of this really necessary or is it overkill? The stats tell the story quite well.  One in four women has experienced domestic violence in their lifetime.  Each year, between 600,000 and 6 million women are the victims of domestic violence.  And finally, the most startling fact of all:  as an average, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners every day in America.

Technology that has been enabled to assist in this area is a huge boost to the efforts of keeping victims safe.  Everyone knows that police agencies cannot keep watch on victims 24×7 to make sure that they are ok.  In fact, case loads for local authorities are almost unbearable.

GPS is the Perfect Partner

If these systems are implemented as planned, they will work automatically and provide advanced notice to the victim that there might be a problem.  This is different from the normal ankle monitoring that only provides police agencies a notice if there is a problem with the monitoring system or other anomalies.

With these new systems, domestic violence victims can begin get back some semblance of a ‘normal’ life.  At least it might help them to live without always looking over their shoulders.

The most serious of cases are the ones that will be targeted by this program.  The best advantages of this program are that:

It is victim oriented.  This differs from existing programs that are targeted exclusively at offenders.

Provides extra time for implementing a plan once an alert is sent out.  The quick alerts allow victims to take action based on pre-determined steps to help insure their safety.

It is an extra tool that provides an additional layer of protection in the appropriate cases.  The goal is to save lives.

GPS Tracking devices have made many important marks on society.  This is without doubt one of the most important.

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