This past Thursday, the Modesto Bee ran an article about Steven Edwards, a parolee and convicted sex offender accused of stalking a young girl. Thanks to his GPS monitoring device, it was easy to prove Edwards had been within 500 meters of the victim’s home and school.
The story clearly illustrates why the safeguards provided by Jessica’s Law, such as requiring GPS monitoring devices and not allowing sex offenders to live closer than 2,000 feet of a school, are so important. In the article, Prosecutor Annette Rees hits the nail on the head when she says, "Here is a case where the mandatory GPS tracking of sex offenders literally prevented further victimization and helped up put away a very scary individual."
Along these same lines, I recently introduced a piece of legislation, SB 1452, that would give local law enforcement the power to require non-revocable parolees to wear GPS devices while they are on parole.
The kind of technology provided through GPS can be a very effective tool in the hands of law enforcement. In this case, I am thankful it was able to assist in taking a dangerous criminal off the street.