New Zealand tracking child sex offenders with GPS
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-02 09:49

A global positioning systems (GPS) device which warns when child sex offenders go near schools and parks will be trialled in New Zealand next year, the New Zealand Press Association reported Thursday.

The Corrections Department's probation and offenders service General Manager Katrina Casey was quoted as saying that the department wanted to test whether the Israeli technology could be programed to set off an alarm when offenders entered "exclusion zones".

"It would be for very high risk child sex offenders whose offending patterns tend to suggest they go out looking for places where young children congregate," she said.

The GPS device, similar to a home detention ankle bracelet, would not be tested on offenders when trials begin early next year - it would be tested on department staff, Casey said.

If the trial was successful, electronic monitoring could be used on about 12 of the 60 offenders a year that were subject to extended supervision following the completion of their parole requirements.

Other countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom had already trialled the technology.

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