TrackerPAL: Pervert GPS
» Crime & Punishment
Sex offender registries don’t necessarily work as intended:
Concerns of vigilantism associated with the sex offender registry are real, however. In Bellingham, Wash., last month a man posing as an FBI agent shot and killed two sex offenders in their home. The suspect told police he targeted the victims after reading about them on a sex offender registry. Every month, Utah’s sex offender registry Web site - www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/community/sexoffenders/- receives about 20,000 hits, says Christine Mitchell, deputy director of the Department of Corrections.
American inventiveness or at least capitalism comes to the, um, rescue:
SecureAlert is negotiating with California, Florida and New Jersey to use TrackerPAL, and the company has been asked to run a pilot program in Pennsylvania beginning in October. The device can track movements in three-minute intervals through both GPS (global positioning satellite) and cellular tower triangulation. Olshen says TrackerPAL’s extra features, in addition to its accuracy, set SecureAlert apart from numerous other tracking products being rushed to the market. TrackerPAL allows two-way cellular communication, and since it contains its own mini-computer, it can be individually programmed with data about area schools, parks and playgrounds - places probation and parole officers want to put off-limits.
TrackerPAL to keep eye on sex offenders
