"New System for Tracking Offenders" 
Press Association (UK) (03/09/03); von Radowitz, John 

U.K.-based QinetiQ is hoping to boost by up to 1,000 times the 
effectiveness of Global Positioning System (GPS)-based tracking 
systems for convicted criminals. The firm is developing the technology 
in collaboration with Guidance Control Systems, a supplier of radio 
frequency tagging gear.  

Chris Langrish of QinetiQ says traditional GPS systems usually 
stop working if the offender goes near a building or enters thickly 
wooded areas, but the new system would broaden GPS' tracking abilities 
to a previously unreachable extent. Moreover, the technology could 
demarcate prohibited areas that, if entered, would send out messages 
to warn authorities.  

At present, the U.K. Home Office is discussing options with GPS 
system manufacturers and mulling which type of offenders would 
participate in the tracking scheme. GPS-enabled tracking is 
expected to be one way to reduce the almost 72,000 people 
incarcerated in British prisons. Currently, annual costs to 
keep an offender in prison total about 27,000 pounds, while 
GPS tracking costs 40 percent less.  

http:// www.pressassociation.press.net/

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Source: NLECTC - http://www.nlectc.org/justnetnews/weeklynews.html


Cheers, Steve..

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