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By Brian Lazenby
Staff Writer
A pilot program that monitors sex offenders goes statewide by the end of the year with a goal to reduce repeat offenders.
The program, which will provide 24-hour monitoring for sex offenders deemed high risk, is part of a broader law known as the Jessica Lunsford Act that passed last session in the General Assembly and increases penalties such as prison time for those convicted of sexual offenses.
Sex offenders in the program wear ankle bracelets equipped with global positioning satellite monitoring technology. Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole employees are alerted if a monitored person goes to an off-limits area.
Bradley County probation and parole officer Jim Hake said the pilot program has been an effective tool.
"It really helps us monitor their patterns -- where they go and what they do," he said. "It makes them aware that we are monitoring them and makes them think twice before doing something they shouldn't."
Cleveland, Tenn., is a pilot city.
Kirk Smith, assistant director of field studies for the Board of Probation and Parole, said the test was operated for more than a year in eight Tennessee cities, and officials are gearing up statewide.
"This is not going to be on every single sex offender, but those that are considered high risk," she said.
Ms. Smith estimates about 400 convicted sex offenders will be monitored via satellite.
Steve Schweiger of the Hamilton County Board of Probation and Parole said his office has 90 to 100 sex offenders on probation. He estimates about 10 will be monitored by satellite.
A recent study by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation claimed sex offenders are less likely to repeat offenses than those convicted of other crimes, but Gov. Phil Bredesen defended the need for the program.
"Government is big enough that you can find any opinion you want if you are looking around for it," he said. "I believe a sexual offender has a sickness that is not necessarily cured by being incarcerated. They do have a reasonable likelihood of reoffending."
State Rep. John Hood, D-Murfreesboro, who sponsored the Jessica Lunsford Act, said the TBI study is misleading because it doesn't differentiate between various types of sex offenses.
"It lumps them all together," he said.
The law, which took effect July 1, gives the Board of Probation and Parole the authority to decide who poses a risk and needs to be monitored, Rep. Hood said.
"They will be able to make the decision about who needs to be on it and who doesn't," he said.
The law will cost the state about $9.5 million, but records show the majority of that is due to cost of incarceration because of the stiffer penalties for sex offenders included in the law.
Ms. Smith said the Probation and Parole Board will receive a state appropriation of about $1.9 million annually to operate the monitoring program.
Tim Dempsey, executive director for Chattanooga Endeavors, which seeks to help those released from prison transition back into society, said such programs can prevent sexual offenders from reoffending.
"One of the reasons sexual offenders don't reoffend is because of the effort we put into their incarceration, treatment and monitoring," he said. "I think the monitoring program will be an effective tool for Probation and Parole. There is good justification for it."
Ms. Smith said a center will be set up in Nashville to monitor sex offenders who go into restricted areas. Officials will try to diffuse the situation before getting authorities involved, she said.
Officials would have the capability to program in specific alert areas such as schools, day-care centers and even a particular victim's home.
"GPS is just another tool to increase our ability to closely monitor offenders determined to be high risk," Ms. Smith said. "It cannot prevent an offender intent on committing a crime from doing so."
Gov. Bredesen praised the program as a way to better protect Tennessee's children.
"This is a good use of technology," he said. "If we can keep a tragedy from happening, I think it is a good idea."
The other seven cities in the pilot are Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Blountville, Murfreesboro, Clarksville and Gallatin.
E-mail Brian Lazenby at blazenby@timesfreepress.com
