Monday, December 01, 2008

By EMILIE RAGUSO
eraguso@modbee.com

last updated: September 23, 2007 08:37:55 PM

Stanislaus County's highest-risk probationers soon will be slapped with 24-hour scrutiny, as the Probation Department adopts a surveillance system other counties have called cutting edge and reliable for tracking offenders.

A GPS tracking program will keep tabs on the most notorious gang members, auto thieves, sexual predators or probationers with domestic violence convictions, said Jerry Powers, the county's chief probation officer.

About 7,500 adults and 750 juveniles are on probation in Stanislaus County, Powers said. For adults, a combination of probation and county jail tends to be a substitute for a state prison sentence; it's a lesser sentence that gives probationers a chance to continue working or stay in school and avoid the harsher conditions of state confinement.

Ninety percent of court cases result in probation and county jail, rather than state prison, Powers said. Probation usually lasts three to five years.

Powers' department rented global positioning system equipment earlier this month. By October, probationers will be hooked into the equipment, wearing an electronic monitoring device on an ankle and carrying a cell phone that electronically tethers them to their probation officers.

Though the Probation Department has used electronic bracelets in house arrests, this is the first time the county will be using GPS units. Electronic bracelets only indicate whether an offender is at home or out; GPS units show where he or she is at all times.

"We have a huge problem in the county with gangs and vehicle theft," Powers said. "This will allow us to do some precision strikes into our communities to get a handle on this stuff. It's just one more arrow in our quiver. Every police chief I've spoken to is champing at the bit."

How it works

The Board of Supervisors in June approved about $120,000 for the tracking program during the 2007-08 fiscal year, Powers said. About $20,000 will pay for the rental of as many as 20 GPS tracking units, electronic monitoring anklets and a charging base for the trackers. The remaining $100,000 will cover probation staff positions to monitor tracking data.

Powers, who says use of the system will become state law for sex offenders by 2009, admits it's a big expense, but well worth it.

"From the potential victim's point of view, it's money well spent if it prevents the assault," he said. "From the taxpayer's perspective, if you're the tax- payer that has the restraining order against the stalker, and GPS prevents them from harming you, or if you have a sex offender who lives down the street and they have GPS on, you'll probably think this is a great use of taxpayer funds.

"We're putting it on the highest-risk people out there, people who have the greatest propensity for reoffending. That's where the taxpayer gets the most bang for their buck."

The Probation Department just received 10 devices and plans to rent another 10 within three months, Powers said, from Boulder, Colo.-based BI Inc.

The trackers are essentially cell phones that communicate with 12 GPS satellites, broadcasting each user's position every minute. Probationers using the equipment must wear an anklet and carry the phone at all times; the anklet and phone must stay within 35 feet of each other, or probation officers receive an alert.

The phones must be charged each night. They do not allow outgoing calls, but can receive text messages from probation officers.

The system will be monitored frequently by the department, but not 24-7. Probationers won't know when they're being watched.

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