Federal probation officers charged with supervising two Orange County sex offenders who are accused of four killings were overworked, underfunded and hampered by GPS systems that did not communicate, an internal inquiry concluded Wednesday. Full Article
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Lawmakers call for review of sex offender oversight
Top state and federal legislators on Wednesday called for investigations of sex offender supervision in response to a high-profile case involving two suspected Orange County serial killers. State Senate President Darrell Steinberg formally requested a statewide review of electronic monitoring and voter-approved housing restrictions. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, plans to request a federal probe focused on the local case. Full Article
Read MoreHow GPS monitoring fails in critical public-safety ways
Experts say law-enforcement agencies have a poor track record of sharing GPS data for proactive purposes. They work well in investigating crimes; less so in detecting them. New details in the high-profile case of two accused Orange County serial killers have revived concerns that federal supervision of California sex offenders is deeply flawed. Full Article
Read MoreIs there a loophole in CA’s tracking of sex offenders?
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —Certain sex offenders are supposed to be tracked and monitored, even after they’re released from prison. But according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, hundreds of them have registered as transient — and some are doing so to avoid detection and certain living restrictions. Full Article
Read MoreSteinberg seeks sex offender review beyond ‘what sounds good’
SACRAMENTO– California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg says he’ll seek a state investigation into California’s supervision of sex offenders that goes beyond the circumstances of two Orange County transients recently accused of killing multiple women while they were supervised by state and federal agents and tracked on electronic monitors. Steinberg’s staff said Friday that the Sacramento Democrat planned Monday to formally request a probe by the office of inspector general. However, speaking at a public policy forum Monday afternoon, Steinberg said his office is still drafting a call for an inquiry into the…
Read MoreProbe of GPS monitoring of suspected serial killers sought
SACRAMENTO — The leader of the state Senate is seeking an investigation into how two sex offenders being monitored by parole agents and tracked by GPS devices were allegedly able to rape and kill four women without being detected. Full Article
Read MoreA Criminal Justice System in Crisis: Suspect Serial Killers Slip Through the Cracks in OC (Op-Ed)
In light of the recent arrests of two registered sex offenders in connection with four murders in Orange County, I’d like to share an article that I originally wrote a few months ago for OC Lawyer Magazine. The tragedy brings into focus the critical shortcomings of our state’s sex offender registry and the stress it puts on a criminal justice system already in crisis. As far as public policies goes, the laws regulating sex offenders are incredibly difficult to approach and reform, but we owe victims (and potential victims) a…
Read MoreGPS failed to stop serial killings
While GPS devices used to monitor sex offenders played an integral role in the capture of two suspected serial killers last week, early details from the case raise questions about how well the tracking data are routinely monitored. Police say the devices enabled them to trace the movements of ____ ____ ____, 45, and ____ ____, 26, and link the two men to the slayings of at least five women. But the investigation has also painted an unsettling picture of sex offender oversight: According to the police account, the pair…
Read MoreProbation officials concede failures in GPS tracking of felons
Los Angeles County probation officials Tuesday conceded widespread failures in their electronic monitoring of felons, in which probation deputies were deluged with meaningless alerts while offenders went untracked for days and weeks at a time. “This is a blueprint of how not to implement a GPS program,” Probation Chief Jerry Powers told the county Board of Supervisors. He said deputies were not at fault, but blamed department administrators and the vendor who sold the county the service.The hearing was triggered by a Feb. 15 story in The Times disclosing that…
Read MoreSex Offender’s Case Won’t Face En Banc Rehearing
PASADENA, Calif. (CN) – The full 9th Circuit should have been called to consider whether to let a sex offender challenge his parole conditions, as the question imperils “our constitutional system’s respect for state sovereignty,” five judges said Tuesday. ____ ____ alleges that California prison officials violated his civil rights by imposing residency and GPS monitoring restrictions typically reserved for sex offenders, even though he had only been convicted in the Golden State for robbery. The state justified the Jessica’s Law parole conditions because of ____’s sexual battery conviction in…
Read MoreGPS monitoring alerts overwhelm probation officers
SACRAMENTO — Electronic monitoring was supposed to help Los Angeles County deal with the influx of thousands of felons moved out of California’s prison system to ease overcrowding. The nation’s largest probation department strapped GPS ankle monitors on the highest-risk of those convicts, expecting the satellite receivers to keep tabs on where they spent their days and nights, and therefore keep the public safe. Instead, agents are drowning in a flood of meaningless data, masking alarms that could signal real danger. County probation officers are inundated with alerts, and at times received…
Read MoreOne in four GPS devices on criminals in L.A. County were faulty
One in every four GPS devices used to track serious criminals released in Los Angeles County has proved to be faulty, according to a probation department audit — allowing violent felons to roam undetected for days or, in some cases, weeks. The problems included batteries that wouldn’t hold a charge and defective electronics that generated excessive false alarms. One felon, county officials said, had to have his GPS monitor replaced 11 times over a year; for five days during the 45-day audit period, his whereabouts were unknown. Full Article Related: Audit:…
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