Third Time Lucky for "GPS Monitoring" of Sex Offenders?

Sex offenders to face compulsory lie detector tests to stop them breaching parole 

 

"Sex offenders could be forced to take lie detector tests when they are freed from jail to prove they pose no risk.

Probation officers have begun rigorous training to become lie detector examiners, under new plans by the Ministry of Justice.

Around 1,000 serious offenders released into the community will be put under stringent tests to ensure they are sticking to their licence conditions.

Justice Minister Jeremy Wright claims the move will give Britain one of the world's toughest approaches to Freed sex offenders.

The compulsory lie detector tests are the latest idea to tighten up controls on sex offenders, which will also see their every movement tracked by satellite tags, when the technology is available, the Ministry of Justice said."

 

Hang on, haven't we been here before? 

 

Paedophiles will be forced to wear GPS tags to track their movements after release from prison, says Justice minister 

 

"Convicted child abusers will be forced to wear tracking devices upon their release, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has promised.

Paedophiles will be equipped with GPS ankle tags so police can track their whereabouts after they have served their prison sentence.

The new scheme will be rolled out across Britain early next year, the Ministry of Justice confirmed today." (ie Spring 2013.... hmmm what happened then?)

 

These ideas are well behind the times of course, as this news item from 2003 shows - 

 

Home Office considers tracking sex offenders

 

"The Home Office is considering using tracking technology to monitor sex offenders, BBC Newsnight has learnt. As public pressure mounts on the Government to find new ways of dealing with child abusers, a report for the programme revealed that ministers are considering the possibility of using technology to electronically track convicted child abusers every minute of the day.

Newsnight gained exclusive access to one of a number of satellite tracking systems being considered by the Home Office Electronic Monitoring Unit, which could follow paedophiles wherever they go.

The Sky Guardian system is the culmination of years of work by Shy Keenan, a victim of child sex abuse.

Speaking to the programme she said: "I spoke to one of the child molesters. I asked him straight, 'what kind of treatment would stop you?', and his response to me was, 'I like molesting children, it's great. I love doing it. The only thing that would actually stop me would be if you cellotaped a policeman and a probation officer to my arse'.

"And as blunt and straight as that was, it sat with me for ages."               

The Sky Guardian system Keenan created with Clive Crosby and the satellite tracking company Tracker involves a tag attached to the offender's ankle and a mobile phone that alarms if he fails to carry it with him.

He can be tracked 24 hours a day via a computer at a monitoring centre and certain areas like schools or playgrounds can be 'geo-fenced'.       

If the offender approaches these areas he can be contacted directly by a probation or police office on an automatic voice channel on the phone."

 

and this one from 2006

 

a 24-hour, state-of-the-art surveillance tagging system for paedophiles.

 

"According to Keenan, who has developed the satellite tracking system with firm Sky Guardian, the Home Office is enthusiastic about conducting trials for the scheme. Under the system - dubbed SG-Rom (Sky Guardian Remote Offender Management) - paedophiles would wear an almost indestructible bracelet and be given a mobile phone fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology so police can constantly track the offender and pinpoint their exact location in the UK.

On the phone there is a "panic button" which offenders can press, linking them to trained counsellors if they are feeling vulnerable or believe they are in danger of re-offending.

If there are concerns about an offender's whereabouts, they can also be contacted via the mobile phone.

The location of schools can be "geo-fenced", meaning that an alert would be sent to the police if an offender approached. Police would be called immediately if the mobile phone and tag were separated."

 

Personally, I prefer the GPS device in the last two articles -"Phoenix R.O.M. as it was known (Remote Offender Management). Not only the device itself, but the added extra's such as a "talk-down" option, the alerts & mobile devices.

 

Why was this not taken seriously & implemented by the Government at the time, between 2002 and 2006, it really should have been!!

 

Will it be third time lucky?

 

Will the MoJ include, as part of this, the options that Phoenix ROM had?

An Extra Addition - Easyfunding.

Readers of this blog may have spotted something an extra addition to my blog as from yesterday. For those who haven't, please scroll down to the very bottom and take a read.

The addition I am referring to is an added part with details of an organisation called Easyfunding.

Taken from the Easyfunding How it works page, the following is a brief description of how funds are raised:

"Easyfundraising.org.uk helps charities, schools, sports clubs, community groups, and other good causes to raise money when their supporters shop online. So far we've raised over £4 million for causes throughout the UK.
It works in a similar way to many other loyalty shopping sites, but instead of earning points when you shop, you raise a donation for your cause instead. It's as simple as that!
You can shop with over 2,000 well known stores and each will donate up to 15% of what you spend. For example, John Lewis will donate 1%, Amazon 1.5%, The Body Shop 6%, some insurance retailers will even donate up to £30 simply for taking out a policy with them!"

It is very simple to register with, and if you shop online, as a lot of people do nowadays, it is a great way to help raise funds at no cost to anyone. With current financial conditions, to be able to fundraise for free  in this way is a huge help to any charity or good cause that you choose to support. As well as raising funds whilst shopping online, you can also raise funds simply by signing up to newsletters or taking out free one month trials also, as well as entering monthly competitions to win cash prizes for your cause.

By far the best way (I think) to help, is to save this as your homepage and search Online, as you would via Google / Bing / Yahoo. Every time you complete a search - that is raising funds for The Phoenix Post. So far, just by using this Search Engine in the last year and a bit, we have raised over £100!

If it wasn't for Sara Payne and Shy Keenan, we would not have Sarah's Law in Jersey.

If it were not for Sara Payne and Shy Keenan, this blog would not have been started,.

If it were not for Sara Payne and Shy Keenan, I would not be challenging AVP, appealing against Unduly Lenient sentences, or anything else I currently do.

They are the two people who have inspired me to do this, and by setting The Phoenix Post up with Easyfunding and Easysearch, this is one way that I show support for the work they do in helping and advocating for victims of paedophile crimes.

So please, click on the link at the very bottom of my blog (the "Ready to Join, Support Us Now" one), have a look around Easyfunding, and if you too would also like to help Sara and Shy continue their work by helping to fund them to do it, please register and use Easyfunding whilst shopping online, and use Easysearch instead of Google.

Thank you.