Satellite Tracking Of Offenders Hits Tall Buildings Problem

Ministers are having to reconsider a national roll-out for satellite tracking of offenders, after research raised concerns about the cost and the way the system can lose people it is monitoring when tall buildings block the signal.

The technology was used in tests with 336 offenders, between September 2004 and June 2006, as an alternative to electronic tagging. But the three pilot schemes, published yesterday, are prompting concern.

The idea was launched by David Blunkett, when he was home secretary, to create “prisons without bars”. The pledge was to keep track of the 5,000 most prolific offenders in England and Wales .

But Ministry of Justice research published yesterday suggests that while satellite and mobile phone technology may be a valuable tool in deterring offenders from further crime, the systems suffer from significant technical problems.

The study says that in ideal conditions the equipment used in the pilot schemes, conducted by private monitoring firms in Manchester, the West Midlands and Hampshire, is capable of pinpointing the location of an offender to an accuracy of 2-10 metres.

However, the tracking units will have difficulty picking up signals when located within buildings, and tall structures could impede or distort the signals, says the study by Stephen Shute, of Birmingham University.

Prof Shute said it was also recognised that offenders can remove their ankle tags or leave their tracking units behind.

While private monitoring staff were happy with the technology, police and probation officers worried about the signal loss, the insufficiently detailed maps of offender movements, and the battery life of the units. Nearly 45% of the offenders in the pilots were recalled to jail.

Prof Shute’s study quotes one manager of a monitoring firm querying the viability of a national roll-out of the scheme, saying too many staff would be needed to provide location reports for all offenders.

The study says “the major outstanding issue from the pilots is whether the benefits that can be obtained from satellite tracking can be delivered at a price which warrants it being rolled out nationally”.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the evaluation was being considered.