Sex offenders need electronic anklets, say PCs

By: Bruce Owen Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Thursday, Sep. 8, 2011

REPEAT sexual offenders will have to wear high-tech anklets so they can be monitored in the community after being released from jail if the Tories win the provincial election.

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REPEAT sexual offenders will have to wear high-tech anklets so they can be monitored in the community after being released from jail if the Tories win the provincial election.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2011 (5310 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REPEAT sexual offenders will have to wear high-tech anklets so they can be monitored in the community after being released from jail if the Tories win the provincial election.

Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen made the pledge Wednesday in a park in St. Norbert, a riding the Tories have a good shot at stealing from the NDP in the Oct. 4 election.

McFadyen also said if he becomes premier his government would also spend $1.2 million annually in new funds for a police unit that goes after pedophiles who make and download Internet child pornography. Electronic monitoring would cost about $800,000 annually.

The GPS-equipped anklets were brought in by the NDP three years ago, in part because of pressure from the PCs, to deal with Winnipeg’s high auto-theft rate. To date, only young high-risk auto thieves have worn them — with mixed results.

In January, the NDP said it would consider expanding the electronic monitoring program after it reviews the results of a coming independent study looking into the pros and cons of the program.

McFadyen said a PC government would bring in better equipment than purchased under the NDP.

“The advice we’ve received is that there’s a form of technology that’s much harder to remove and much more effective than what the NDP have been using,” he said.

Family Services and Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh, a former provincial justice minister, said the NDP plans to expand the electronic monitoring to include not only sex offenders but also people convicted in serious domestic cases as well. More details will come out during the campaign.

McFadyen’s Safer Communities platform also calls for two new funds to be set up to improve recreational facilities and youth programming across the province. The PCs also want to create a mentorship program for youth and put more police officers in schools.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca