(Press-News.org) The use of GPS technology to monitor sex offenders should be viewed as a tool rather than a control mechanism, a team of researchers at Sam Houston State University found in a recent study.
In "Examining GPS Monitoring Alerts Triggered by Sex Offenders: The Divergence of Legislative Goals and Practical Applications in Community Corrections," Dr. Gaylene Armstrong and Beth Freeman examined the affects of a state law in Arizona that required the lifelong GPS monitoring of adult sex offenders convicted of dangerous crimes against children and placed on community supervision. The study monitored sex offenders in Maricopa County, AZ over a two-year period.
"A divergence between legislative goals and practical application of mandated GPS
monitoring programs exists," said Dr. Armstrong, Research Director of the Correctional Management Institute of Texas at the College of Criminal Justice. "GPS technology is far more limited than anticipated and should be viewed as a tool rather than depended upon as a control mechanism."
The study found that a significant number of equipment-related alerts were triggered by a loss of a satellite signal, rather than offender violations. Those alerts resulted in a significant increase in the workload of probation officers.
"While it is expected that GPS technology provides the capability for near real-time tracking of an offender's location and movement in the community and that alerts would primarily indicate non-compliance with geographical and temporal restrictions, findings demonstrated that the responses to non-violation alerts consumed an inordinate amount of an agency's resources – resources that could be better directed to other case management activities," the study found.
A secondary impact is the possibility of complacency by probation officers because of an overload of non-violation alerts, which may result in a failure to act and liability for offender actions, the report concluded.
The cost effectiveness of GPS monitoring should be considered when setting budget for technology and vendors, especially considering the workload required to implement and maintain the system. If lifelong monitoring is mandated, the number of cases will continue to grow, the study said.
Community corrections supervisors estimate that 70 percent of alerts are false alarms and are usually related to technology issues. Steps should be taken to reduce the likelihood of unintentional alarms. Probation officers also should be trained on the use of the GPS system, and written rules and policies should be implemented, the report said.
"Results demonstrated a clear difference between legislative perceptions of the level of technological advancement of GPS equipment and its actual readiness for broad based roll out in community corrections settings at this time," said the study. "Moreover, it appears from these results that GPS technology is currently too underdeveloped to recommend continued swift enactment of legislation mandating implementation and utilization of GPS in a cost-effective manner."
###
The study was published in the Journal of Criminal Justice.
SHSU studies GPS monitoring of Arizona sex offenders
2011-08-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Tactile technology guaranteed to send shivers down your spine
2011-08-09
PITTSBURGH—A new tactile technology developed at Disney Research, Pittsburgh (DRP), called Surround Haptics, makes it possible for video game players and film viewers to feel a wide variety of sensations, from the smoothness of a finger being drawn against skin to the jolt of a collision.
The technology is based on rigorous psychophysical experiments and new models of tactile perception. Disney will demonstrate Surround Haptics Aug. 7-11 at the Emerging Technology Exhibition at SIGGRAPH 2011, the International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques ...
Urgent assessment in emergency departments can reduce surgical decision time and overcrowding
2011-08-09
CHICAGO (August 8, 2011) – The use of Acute Care Emergency Surgical Service (ACCESS) in emergency departments (EDs) can lead to significant reductions in key patient measures, such as length of stay, surgical decision-making time and "time-to-stretcher" (one measure of overall ED overcrowding), according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Emergency departments are a crucial point of access to the health care system for patients with a broad spectrum of injuries and illnesses, and overcrowding has been identified ...
Number of laparoscopic bariatric procedures continued to rise between 2003-2008
2011-08-09
CHICAGO (August 8, 2011) – According to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, there was an increase in the number of laparoscopic bariatric procedures, an increase in the number of bariatric surgeons and a decrease of inhospital mortality rates between 2003 and 2008. During the past decade, the field of bariatric surgery has changed dramatically and the authors concluded that these trends are due, in part, to an increase in the use of laparoscopic techniques and a greater acceptance of bariatric surgery by patients.
"We've ...
You can count on this: Math ability is inborn
2011-08-09
We accept that some people are born with a talent for music or art or athletics. But what about mathematics? Do some of us just arrive in the world with better math skills than others?
It seems we do, at least according to the results of a study by a team of Johns Hopkins University psychologists. Led by Melissa Libertus, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the study -- published online in a recent issue of Developmental Science -- indicates that math ability in preschool children is ...
Like superman's X-Ray vision, new microscope reveals nanoscale details
2011-08-09
Physicists at UC San Diego have developed a new kind of X-ray microscope that can penetrate deep within materials like Superman's fabled X-ray vision and see minute details at the scale of a single nanometer, or one billionth of a meter.
But that's not all. What's unusual about this new, nanoscale, X-ray microscope is that the images are not produced by a lens, but by means of a powerful computer program.
The scientists report in a paper published in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that this computer program, or ...
USC scientist develops virus that targets HIV
2011-08-09
In what represents an important step toward curing HIV, a USC scientist has created a virus that hunts down HIV-infected cells.
Dr. Pin Wang's lentiviral vector latches onto HIV-infected cells, flagging them with what is called "suicide gene therapy" — allowing drugs to later target and destroy them.
"If you deplete all of the HIV-infected cells, you can at least partially solve the problem," said Wang, chemical engineering professor with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
The process is analogous to the military practice of "buddy lasing" — that is, having a ...
Peak oil and public health: Political common ground?
2011-08-09
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 8, 2011)—Peak petroleum—the point at which the maximum rate of global oil extraction is reached, after which the rate of production begins to decline—is a hot topic in scientific and energy circles. When will it occur? What will the impact be? While geologists and economists debate the specifics, American University School of Communication professor Matthew Nisbet believes peak petroleum and the associated risks to public health may provide an opportunity to bring conservatives and liberals together in the move toward alternative forms of energy.
"Somewhat ...
World survey links religion and happiness -- for some
2011-08-09
CHAMPAIGN, lll. — There may be a few atheists in foxholes, but a new study suggests that in societies under stress, those who are religious outnumber – and are happier than – their nonreligious counterparts. Where peace and plenty are the norm, however, religious participation is lower and people are happier whether or not they are religious, the researchers found.
A paper describing the research appears in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The study analyzed data from the 2005-2009 Gallup World Poll, a survey of people in more than 150 countries that ...
'Good' prion-like proteins boost immune response, UT Southwestern scientists report
2011-08-09
DALLAS – Aug. 8, 2011 – A person's ability to battle viruses at the cellular level remarkably resembles the way deadly infectious agents called prions misfold and cluster native proteins to cause disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.
This study marks the first discovery of so-called "good" prion-like proteins in human cells and the first to find such proteins involved in innate immunity: the way the body recognizes and responds to threats from viruses or other external agents, said Dr. Zhijian "James" Chen, professor of molecular biology and senior ...
Rats control appetite for poison
2011-08-09
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 9, 2011 – Life is tough for woodrats in deserts of the U.S. Southwest. There are few plants for food, and those plants produce poison to deter rodents, insects and other animals. A new University of Utah study shows how certain woodrats put themselves on a diet to avoid poisoning: They sample a smorgasbord of toxic plants, eat smaller meals, increase time between meals and drink more water if it is available.
"For decades, we have been trying to understand how herbivores deal with toxic diets," says biology Professor Denise Dearing, senior author ...