“Prolific” burglars, thieves and robbers will be tracked using GPS ankle tags as part of a pilot covering the Gwent Police force area.
Working with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, burglars, robbers and thieves that have served a prison sentence of a year or more will be fitted with a tag on release – allowing their location to be monitored 24 hours a day for up to a year.
Radio tags are already in wide-use but only checks if a person is a certain location at a certain time. GPS tags allow the authorities to check where a person is at any time.
The Ministry of Justice scheme is being piloted across six police force areas (Avon and Somerset, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Humberside and West Midlands.
It will launch on April and it is estimated 250 offenders will be tagged nationally in the first six months. Caerphilly Observer has asked Gwent Police how many it thinks will be tagged in its area.
Minister for Crime and Policing, Kit Malthouse MP said: “Being burgled or robbed is devastating and I understand how frustrating it is when the perpetrators can’t be caught, both for the public and the police.
“Tagging these prolific offenders so we know where they are 24 hours a day should be powerful persuasion to change their ways and will help police find and charge them if they don’t. It’s another tool helping probation staff to cut crime and keep the public safe.”
Deputy Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, of Gwent Police, said: “The impact of being burgled or robbed stretches further than the initial crime, it comes with emotional upset and pain.
“It is a fact that 51% of those convicted of theft, including burglary, and 29% of those convicted of robbery reoffend within a year of their release. This pilot will act as a deterrent to those people who use this type of crime as a way of life, and will also allow officers to take swift action.”
Has this been done before and why is it being done?
The results of a previous 18-month pilot by the MoJ into the use of GPS tagging were published in 2019.
The report suggested that such an approach had numerous benefits. This pilot tagged wider variety of defendants in a wider set of circumstances compared to the most recent scheme the Gwent force area is taking part in.
The primary benefit was keeping people out of prison – and the associated costs.
One prison staff member is quoted as saying: “If GPS wasn’t an option then we definitely wouldn’t have released as many offenders as we have done. Having GPS gives you that confidence to release more than you would have done previously.”
Other benefits listed included being able to rule out people of suspected crimes because their location was known and an increase in the number of homeless prisoners being housed in private hostels on release.
It also helped improve people’s compliance with their release conditions – such as avoiding a certain area. However some wearers of the tag felt it was unnecessary for them.
One wearer said: “Nah, not for me, [because] … if you [want to] stay out of trouble, you’re [going to] stay out of trouble regardless of a tag. Like, a tag for me personally … [is not] determining whether I’m [going to] stay out of trouble or not.”
Question marks were raised about how breaches of conditions were dealt with as some forces and courts dealt with offenders differently to others.