A GPS company hired by the county’s Probation Department to keep an eye on about 300 convicts left more than a dozen of them unsupervised days, sometimes weeks.
It seems many of the probationers using the devices had no idea they were not functioning properly. But when they checked in with their probation officers, officials found several of the devices had stopped sending signals of their location.
The GPS devices are supposed to send the company, Sentinel Offender Services, a signal every 60 seconds telling them where the probationers are. Instead, some of the devices didn’t send a signal for days. Some where found to have stopped sending coordinates for nearly a month.
But it wasn’t just GPS devices that failed.
In one instance, a convict required to take an alcohol-content breath test at his home failed it more than 80 times, but the company never told officials in the Probation Department.
Officials are already working to transition about 300 convicts to another company, but it has raised serious concerns with elected and law enforcement officials.
With a rising population in county jails, local officials across the state are relying more and more on GPS devices and private companies to keep an eye on probationers. Continue reading “GPS company left convicts unsupervised”