“Priority” is not a synonym for “Intelligence”- GPS not needed to track bull
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
State officials say Illinois can’t afford a new high-tech system that legislators approved this year to track paroled sex offenders. But a Republican sponsor of the legislation says the real problem is that the state’s purse strings are controlled by Democrats, who don’t want to give credit for the idea to the opposing party in an election year.
“The rationale I was given was that the state couldn’t afford it, even though we found $1.4 billion in new spending this year,” said Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, the sponsor. “What it comes down to is that it just wasn’t a priority.”
Under Watson’s bill, Illinois’ most dangerous paroled sexual predators would have been tracked 24 hours a day with ankle bracelets that use Global Positioning System, or GPS. The bill passed the Legislature earlier this year, and had the support of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a spokeswoman said in February…. Full Article Here:
Time and time again now we’ve gone over the benefits of GPS Tracking of many types of criminal offenders. The “buzz” these days is all about sexual offenders but it doesn’t matter if someone is convicted of molesting a child or robbing a TV out of a third-story window, the advantages to both the state, the public at large and the offender are large indeed. There’s approximately a 10 to 1 savings for the state for every offender who is “imprisoned” by GPS monitoring in lieu of being actually imprisoned in a state penal facility. This alone ought to wake up sleepy lawmakers who want to have dollars available for boondoggles other than the prisons.
There’s an increased level of safety for potential victims for nay offenders who are not inside prison walls. This is worth something in peace of mind (and is the duty of the state to provide), but there’s also a real-world dollars and cents benefit in crimes that don’t have to be investigate, prosecuted and compensated, because they didn’t happen … what a thought, prevention of crime instead o f punishment for one.
Lastly, as I have pointed out in the past, the state gains big time if offenders are out on the street earning and supporting their families, instead of sitting watching cable TV at state expense while their wives and children line up at the welfare office for a handout.
So, does Illinois really not have the money? Or are the lawmakers pulling their usual trick of figuring the voters are so dumb they can’t even add two plus two?