PENTAGON PUSHES SATELLITE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM THAT TRACKS PEOPLE

Tuesday, April 13, 1999
Courtesy of : Neil Konitshek hutrcc@inetworld.net

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has begun leasing satellite time for a new
monitoring system which allows prison parolees and probationers to be
tracked 24 hours a day. The system, according to a report in USA Today, is
designed to send alerts to law enforcement authorities within minutes when
an individual being monitored enters a prohibited area.

In addition, the tracking system can download all of a person's movements
including "the precise route the person took to work."

While parolee-tracking devices are not new, older methods with ground-based
systems could only tell if an individual violated the terms of parole by
leaving home during restricted hours. The new method reveals where they go.

Advocates hail the enhanced abilities of satellite tracking as a new tool
for law enforcement and a cost-saving to taxpayers. Currently, 100 people
in nine states are under satellite surveillance at a cost per person of
$12.50 per day.

Some members of the law enforcement community have expressed reservations.
"You could end up with the majority of the population under some kind of
surveillance by the government," said Paul Rothstein, a law professor at
Georgetown University.

Jack King, spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers, warning of the prospect of tracking felons who have served their
sentences, said, "Who would they be tracking next?"

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