Photo: Dan Goldblatt
Sex offenders could be required to wear GPS tracking devices to prevent recidivism.
Under terms of a bill passed by the Indiana Senate Tuesday, some sex offenders would be required to wear GPS tracking devices. Bedford Senator Brent Steele’s bill would require the state parole board to use a “validated recidivism risk assessment” to determine which parolees wear the ankle bracelets. Steele says the requirement, which attempts to determine which offenders might pose the greatest risk while out of prison, came from a summer study committee…
“Believe it or not — and I find this hard to believe because this bill was originally my bill on the ankle bracelets for child molesters — there are actually some of these individuals who are less likely to re-offend than others,” Steele said.
The state has, since 2006, required sex offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices. Steele says the state cannot afford an unlimited number of the new, more costly bracelets, forcing the parole board in the near term to attempt to choose only the most dangerous parolees to wear them.
