IT WORKS! DO IT!

I feel like I'm yelling at walls concerning certain topics, and it doesn't seem like anything gets through to people. Often a couple years later, people will come back with "I should have listened to you", but by then it's too late and just more of Cassandra's tears.

I've been saying for years that we have the technology to GPS track criminals who have already been convicted of violent crimes to prevent them from repeat offending. Times have changed, but as usual the laws haven't. Restraining orders are just a piece of paper, and parole officer check ins are a comfort to some, but in general the restrictions like don't go near a school zone or other such things are not very well enforced. Just take a look at how many sex offenders live in your vicinity some day, it will frighten you. But now that we have GPS tracking there's no reason for that! We chip our dogs for goodness sake! It's been proven safe and effective. The tech and premise are solid.

Violent Sex Offenders are more likely to repeat offend than any other criminal. Therefore releasing these high risk individuals back into the population is like releasing a wolf into a herd of sheep. He might be nice and full when you release him, but sooner or later he's going to get hungry for what put him in a cage to start with. So why not track them?

Forget the responses for why not, because they are all invalid now. It's recently been proven to work extremely effectively by being put into practice in Massachusetts. Tried and tested, IT WORKS!

"not a single case she's taken on has ended in murder, and the men who have been sentenced to GPS tracking have not committed any future acts of violence. "

They say that you can tell what your enemy fears by what he uses to threaten you. This employs that same principle and uses it effectively in a way that has broken the cycle of oppression that comes at the hands of abusers and stalkers...

"The system works in no small part because it turns the logic of an abusive relationship on its head. The abuser works by making the victim feel like she will never be free of him, his violence, and his surveillance. If she tries to leave, he escalates. If she gets a new boyfriend, he escalates. The idea is to make her feel like her choices are to submit or to live in terror. The high-risk teams shift the burden of being surveilled from the victim to the abuser. Now, if he makes a threat, Massachusetts has the power to escalate. If he uses visitation time to attack her or her children, Massachusetts restricts visitation. Now he's the one who has to make his decisions with the understanding that someone with power can further restrict his movements and his ability to live freely. Abusers often victimize for years before taking things to the level of a serious beating or murder. By restricting movements in the early stages, it appears that the program helps keep abusers from getting to that point. "

At last someone gets it! The solution has been staring us in the face for some time now, and someone finally put it to good use. The number of social problems that this will solve are numerous. Out of all the worthless legislation being pressed for, THIS addresses a real social threat. Now that we know that it works, there is no reason we shouldn't have this in every state. IT WORKS! DO IT!

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This NEEDS to be a Thing...

In 2001 I was kidnapped and raped by my ex-husband who has served a "life sentence" for the crime, but what people don't understand is that "life in prison" means about 12 years, which means that this year he will be released back into the general population in October.

Now this has me in a general state of OMFG, because although I have taken measures to increase security... I really have nothing to protect me but an admonition from the court, and well, if a criminal were keen on following those type things, they would not be a criminals in the first place.  

So here's the thing that should be a THING, and all the groundwork is already laid out for this.  The technology wasn't there when he was prosecuted, but it's there now, and it's time that the justice system caught up with the times.

Right now my iphone alerts me to impending tornados, amber alerts, and other things, so why then can there not be a gps tracker implanted in released felons, and then have victim protection software that notifies you when they are close, giving the victim a heads up to vacate the area, avoiding any potential opportunity for violence.  Makes sense.  It's only for people who have already committed violent crimes, so it's not a tracking of the general populace, just violent criminals, just those who have proven to be threats.  Obviously it won't protect against those who have no record, but there are the usual suspects.  If nothing else it would be peace of mind for those in a similar situation to mind.  If the government really wants a Victim Protection Act, then this is the way to go about it.

As violent sex offenders are more likely to repeat offend than any other form of criminal, it would be a way for law enforcement to GPS local felons when they visit a crime scene and track whether or not a convicted and released felon were in the area at the time of the crime. Think how many return to the scene of the crime, how many cold cases could be solved, and how many repeat victims could be saved additional trauma from a vengeful felon.

Right now we have a violent sex offender list where the offenders have to register where they live, and can't live close to schools.  However the monitoring on this must be lax, because we have seen this not matter much, being that we live near a couple schools.  If violent sex offenders were also tagged, you could be on the playground and get a warning that there was one in the area, and reduce risks to your kids.  Schools could have alerts to let them know these people were on school grounds and send security to handle it.  Perhaps even limiting school shootings.

When it comes down to it, I am probably more worried about my attacker coming after my daughter than me, and if schools had such a setup, alerting them if my attacker were nearby, I know that I would have far more peace of mind dropping her off at school and not worrying that might show and try to snatch her.

With the prevalence of domestic abuse in the US, I know that I am not alone in this situation.  I know there are other women who have suffered similar situations, and could benefit from such a program.  I know that these resources would be very valuable to law enforcement in crime prevention and solving.

The only thing is that the legislation needs to be passed and implemented.   For all my tax dollars being used on things I don't want, it would be nice if they would spend them on a program that would benefit victims of violent crimes.