Satellite tracking pilots to target 'prolific offenders'

Satellite tracking will keep close tabs on offenders in three areas of the country in a new development launched today.

The pilots will take place in Greater Manchester, Hampshire and the West Midlands. They will cover prolific offenders and domestic violence offenders in Hampshire and the West Midlands as well as sex offenders in Greater Manchester.

The tracking technology uses a satellite Global Positioning System, backed up by mobile phone technology in some cases, to monitor offenders' movements and ensure they are complying with the restrictions placed on them. The decision on whether to extend the use of tracking to the whole of England and Wales will be made after the 12-month pilots are complete.

The new technology will provide an added layer of public protection, by helping deter offenders from breaking the law, while providing extra intelligence to public protection agencies about an ex-offender's movements to ensure they can intervene swiftly if restrictions are being flouted, the Home Office said.

The cost of tracking an offender will depend on how intensive the tracking is, on how many offenders are made subject to tracking, and on how the pilots work out in practice. This year the government has put aside £3 million to cover start up costs, evaluation and project management. It is estimated that the average cost per day for each offender tracked will be £68.

Offenders will be tracked following their release from custody or as part of their compliance with a new community penalty called the exclusion order which the Courts can impose to prevent an offender going to specific locations. Satellite tracking will also be used as part of the ongoing intensive supervision of persistent juvenile offenders in the community, which combines close surveillance and strict curfews with mentoring and support programmes to keep young offenders out of prison.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said the new technology will allow the government to be tough with offenders just released from prison – to ensure they are sticking to the conditions of their licence and staying away from crime.

"However, our sentencing reforms were not just about being tougher on the most serious offenders," Mr Blunkett said. "This technology will allow us to develop and promote the tough community sentences which are vital if we are to prevent re-offending and give non-violent offenders a chance to serve an effective sentence in the community.

"The public have to be confident that this 'prison without bars' works and that it gives the police and probation services the tools they need to protect them. This will build on the success of electronic tagging in monitoring offenders."

Steve Murphy, Director General of the Probation Service, said that satellite tracking would enable probation staff and police forces to "work even more closely in protecting the public".

(gmcg/mb)