GPS ankle bracelets due for abuse convicts

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This article was published 02/11/2011 (5068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Serious domestic abusers and stalkers in Manitoba will be among the first in Canada to wear ankle bracelets equipped with GPS technology that tracks their movements, Attorney General Andrew Swan said Tuesday.

The province plans to expand its electronic-monitoring program in the spring, but its scope depends on the upcoming budget process as each provincial initiative must compete for tax dollars.

Swan also cautioned electronic monitoring is not a substitute for jail for serious offenders.

“Electronic monitoring does not replace incarceration for somebody who is a real threat to other people,” Swan said. “It also doesn’t take the place, and people shouldn’t be complacent, when we know it’s a domestic violence situation. We don’t want the victim to simply have faith in electronic monitoring. We want them to continue their safety planning.”

The expanded use of electronic monitoring — since April 2008 only high-risk car thieves have worn them — was part of the NDP’s recent campaign platform.

“As we roll out further expansions to electronic monitoring we want to make sure that it’s the right people in the right situations that are going to be monitored,” Swan said.

On Tuesday, the first day of Domestic Violence Prevention Month, the province unveiled more immediate initiatives to combat domestic violence and help its victims.

They include a new program to shelter pets while victims of domestic violence leave abusive homes. Safe Pet, to be run by the Winnipeg Humane Society and the province’s veterinarians, is based on findings that women do not feel comfortable leaving an abusive relationship if a pet is left behind and that children experience further trauma when a pet is left at risk in the home.

“Research has shown that when a woman has to flee, if there is a pet involved, they hesitate because they realize that in effect, the revenge will be taken out on the pet,” Winnipeg Humane Society chief executive officer Bill McDonald said at an event at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

Other initiatives include programs to help abuse victims manage their finances, installing closed-circuit TV monitoring and digital video recording at women’s resource centres for safer off-hours counselling programs and allowing victims of domestic violence to terminate a lease early so they can get out of an abusive home with just one month’s or one rental period’s notice rather than at the end of the lease.

Labour and Immigration Minister Jennifer Howard also said the province will launch a public consultation process in January for a renewal of its domestic violence strategy. It will focus on updating women’s shelter and residential programs.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca