Sex offenders, arsonists and boozers will be tracked using a GPS monitoring device. Source: Herald Sun
EXCLUSIVE: VICTORIA'S worst sex fiends will be tracked using cutting-edge satellite technology from July.
And in an Australian-first, judges will be able to order serious offenders on booze bans to wear ankle bracelets that monitor their blood-alcohol content through sweat molecules.
The introduction of bracelets with GPS monitoring also gives courts the power to have arsonists tracked during bushfire seasons - a key Coalition election promise.
That 2010 pledge came after criminals, including a dangerous rapist, evaded authorities despite wearing tracking devices that used radio frequency signals.
The $12 million program includes enhanced technology so authorities can more easily detect when criminals tamper with bracelets.
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The state's worst sex monsters, who live at Corella Place in Ararat, will be the first to wear the satellite-linked devices.
Corrections Minister Edward O'Donohue said GPS could be used to trace dangerous parolees or people on sex-offender supervision orders, as well as serious offenders on community corrections orders.
"For the first time, Corrections Victoria will be able to track the whereabouts of offenders to make sure they are following the conditions imposed on them by the courts," he said. "This is a big step forward in the ongoing battle to keep Victorians safe."
At the moment, radio frequency technology flags only if an offender is in a specific area and doesn't follow him or her outside of that zone. Advanced GPS technology would ensure exact locations of people wearing bracelets was known at all times.
The new alcohol bracelets could be used to monitor people who are on a court-ordered booze ban.
Alcohol bans could be used on repeat drink-drivers, or thugs who went on violent rampages when drunk.
The SCRAMx bracelets are the same as the ones US authorities used to keep tabs on celebrity Lindsay Lohan after court orders relating to drink-driving offences.
The bracelets monitor a person's perspiration, and if they detect alcohol, a silent alarm is triggered for corrections authorities.
The same sort of alarm goes off if sex offenders or dangerous parolees are detected in banned areas - such as school grounds or licensed venues.
If this is a breach of a criminal's parole or supervision order, then he or she could be sent to prison.
The new GPS bracelets were ordered following a lengthy tender process. Testing of earlier GPS models found glitches.
Mr O'Dononhue said that while no system was entirely failsafe, "all we can do is buy the best, and that's what we have done".
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