GPS Offers Law Enforcement Tool, SB 619

CSA has issued the attached press release in support of SB 619 (Speier) designed to provide GPS monitoring devices for probationers and parolees. Senator Speier held a press conference on this measure this morning in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES – There’s a new sheriff in town and he’s a technology called the Global Positioning System (GPS).  Until now, California law did not permit the use of GPS technology to supervise parolees and probationers – nor even child molesters.  State Senator Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) passed legislation, Senate Bill 619, to address this problem.

Operated by the U.S. Air Force as a satellite navigation system, GPS consists of a constellation of 24 satellites that can calculate a person’s exact location.

"Satellite technology is giving law enforcement officers throughout the country a new tool with which to fight crime and ensure public safety, thereby freeing them up for other more pressing crime fighting duties," stated Hon. Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director of The California Space Authority (CSA) a non-profit organization representing the interests of the space enterprise community.  "The benefit of using GPS to monitor the whereabouts of probationers and parolees is that the system provides real-time information.  Alarms will alert authorities if the subject strays from or into a restricted area. The system works like an electronic fence."

Existing monitor device systems do not use GPS and require that the subject to remain near an in-home terrestrial telephone system so that the mechanism can periodically dial up and confirm whereabouts. The GPS system, on the other hand, can transmit location information from anywhere.

Police departments across the nation already use GPS to monitor the location of their officers and police cars in order to send help quickly when needed.  Satellites can track stolen cars and even access images, fingerprints, and license numbers of wanted or missing persons instantly, even in remote areas.