Investigation Finds GPS Monitoring System For Sex Offenders May Be Faulty

A new report by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism finds the state’s sex offender GPS monitoring system may not be working as intended.

Some of the more than six hundred monitored sex offenders say the system repeatedly fails.

The offenders wear ankle bracelets that track their position and alert the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) when they are not where they are supposed to be, or when the GPS signal is lost. Critics say the monitors often sound alerts when they should not, landing offenders back in jail, and sometimes do not go off when they should – potentially endangering the public.

Madison criminal defense attorney Jessa Nicholson says she has represented many offenders who have repeatedly spent hours or days in jail because their monitors went off in their homes, at work or at other approved locations.

“I think it’s actually extraordinarily emotionally difficult on GPS monitor offenders. Because there’s a constant stress of watching to make sure that your equipment is working properly and there’s really no confidence that you’re going to be able to live your day-to-day life.”

Republican Representative Garey Bies, of Sister Bay, says he does not have much sympathy for the offenders, but he is concerned about public safety and the cost of the program. As chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corrections, he plans to ask the DOC for more information.

“‘I’m concerned that we have an accurate monitoring system and I’m also concerned on costs. The Department of Corrections has a very big budget. Anytime that we can conserve funding in that area we can then use those funds for other areas.”

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau says last year the state paid an outside company more than $4 million for GPS home monitoring units and electronic alcohol detection units.

Governor Scott Walker’s proposed budget recommends $10 million to expand GPS monitoring over the next two years. DOC officials said they are not aware of any problems with the monitoring system.

(The report “Lost Signals, Disconnected Lives,” can be read on WCIJ’s website.)