A recent article left us, and no doubt many readers, incredulous. A defendant awaiting trial in the District of Columbia who had been outfitted with a GPS anklet eluded being tracked by removing the prosthetic leg to which it had been attached. It gets worse: The defendant strapped on a second prosthetic leg and allegedly killed another man while the device that was supposed to help keep the community safe lay in a box at his home.
Officials responsible for the monitoring of D.C. defendants characterized the incident as an outlier. Not only did a technician not realize the defendant had an artificial leg, but also there was a violation of company protocol that GPS anklets be affixed tightly to skin, never over clothing.
No doubt officials are right that the particulars of this case are unusual, but the assertion in the man's arrest affidavit that "the device barely moved" for 72 hours--with such a tragic outcome--raises questions about a system that is supposed to alert authorities to suspicious activity.
Good then, as officials assured us, that they are working to take "a good hard look" to avoid any errors in the installation process. It might be worth checking on the monitoring process, too.
Editorial on 07/02/2016