Furlough Days in Wisconsin

Well, what a joy, The state agencies were shut down today for a furlough day. Why should this matter to me? Well as a offender that is on GPS I go on lockdown every day that the DOC decides to take a day off.
So today, they were nice enough to let me go to work then straight home. I am told that they limit my movements due to staff being short! Well, lets take a look at the situation. It is true that on furlough days the DOC staff is short, this is because the state spent more money then they had and they were forced to make cuts. Good idea in theory but does it really make sence, that is an entirly another blog for another day!

So lets look hour these furlough days affect offenders on GPS! Due to the furlough day, the DOC made a policy that limits offenders movements on these days. So they pretty much put you on house arrest, and what did the offender do wrong? NOTHING. The DOC "justified" limiting movement due to staff shortages. So they decided that offenders on GPS can only go to work and to treatment. So becuase the DOC can state that the staff is short, they put offenders in my situation on house arrest.

So this made me start to think, what is the difference between a fulough day and say a weekend. In both situations there is a shortage of staff, because they only staff enough people to run the programs that run 24 hours a day, things like the monitoring center. It is mandated by the GPS statue that the monitoring center is mandated to be staffed 24 hours a day 365 days a year. So there is staff there to operate the monitoring center in Madison Wisconsin. This is staffed weather it is a weekday, a weekend, or a furlough day because they have to monitor all offenders that are on electonic monitoring weather it is GPS, scam, sobrieter or any other electonic moniting that they state has.

On weekends I have an approved schedule and i pretty much have free movement when i have "outtime." They allow me to leave my residence then, and this is one of those times that there is limited DOC staff on. Now today, there are persons working in the monitoring center. I have an approved schedule from my agent, just like any other weekday. What is different between today and yesterday? They both had "limited DOC staff" so why should i be only allowed to go to treatment or work, any other time I am locked within my house, and if I leave anywhere else there will be a warrent issues and i will have a couple of officers knocking at my door to take me to the town motel for the night. So it just proves that there is someone sitting behind a desk in Madison to monitor the movements of the offenders on electronic monitoring, as there has to be someone to issue the warrents and to verify the the warrent when the wounderful police department calls.

So we know that the DOC monitoring center is staffed on furlough days, same as weekends and holidays. So why is the DOC punishing offenders on electronic monitoring. GPS and most electronic monitoring is used as a tool. GPS is a tool, it should be used as a tool until it is deamed unconstitutional. It should never be used as a punishment. This is not a punishment, this is a tool that is mandated by statue. So as a tool, it should not be used as a punishment, and should not be used as house arrest when the DOC does not want to do there job!

The time to change is now. We need to speak out about this and contact our legislators and anyone that will listen to force change on this issue. How is one supposed to become a productive member of society and give back if they are locked in there house whenever the DOC and legislators want to "save" money.

GPS - A feel good law

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjdZq0PGyU

This is a video that shows what legislators really think. If they place a GPS on every offender we will stop crime, anyone that is informed on sexual offenders know that 90+% of sexual assaults are committed by persons that have never been caught! Informed persons also know that persons with sexual based crimes do not usally comitte other crimes of the same nature. Most studies show that a person that goes to prison for a sexually based crime that recive meaninful treatment do not comitte another crime. Most studies show that recidivism rates of sexual offenders is around 2.5%. So why do we as a state and country push for all of these regulations on sex offenders, simple, it sells and it gets the votes. It gets the votes because of media and polititions keep telling the general population that this class of offenders will comitte more crimes, when in all reality, this is not true. But it this sells, and gets votes.

So, in all reality, what does GPS really do? It shows the location of the offender (when the system works properly). Is that what the general public really needs to know? The answer is no, in the perfect world probation and parole officers want to know what the offender is doing, who they are with, and what they are doing with said people! GPS for this class of offender sounds wounderful on paper, but what does it really do to protect the community?

So before we can do something to change this for this class of offender and stop violating there rights, we need to educate the people that make these laws. Then we need to speak out and educate the general public. Once we do this we can find good ways to stop the vicimization, and help the victims, the offenders, and there family and friends to make this country a better place. Until we are able to do this, the states and the federal systems will continue to spend countless billions of dollars on laws and programs that do nothing to stop further victimization.

As you see on the video, there is a lot of education to be done. Until we can change the minds of the people that are in office, they will continue to believer that every sex offender will be released from custody and will recommitte crimes!    This video tells the truth! check him out, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kgho7SC6xk    his website is http://www.allenhuntshow.com/

Fact vs. Fiction on Sexual offenders

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unsuspecting children?

think this, the facts show a different story. Federal and State data show that most sex

crimes against children are committed by someone the child knows—either a family

member or close associate. Under 10 percent of sex crimes against children are

committed by a stranger. Sexual abuse of children is not typically committed by

strangers.

Aren’t all sex offenders perverted strangers who sneak up and snatchAlthough news stories about gruesome crimes lead us to

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fact the DOJ statistics show how many missing children were runaways (99% of

which return home safely, according to their statistics) and how many were abducted

by a family member. They don’t list the number abducted by strangers, because the

number is so small, as shown in table 3 of the NISMART-2 2002 Bulletin, “National

Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview.”

Aren’t most of the America’s missing children abducted by strangers? No, in

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2002 U.S. Department of Justice study showed that 60% of the children abducted by

strangers or slight acquaintances during a 12-month study period

This statistical data relates to all abductions, not specifically regarding sex offenders.

Aren’t children who have been abducted by strangers typically murdered? Awere not killed.

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crime (habitual sex offenders)?

recidivism (re-arrest) rates for tens of thousands of sex offenders show that 87 to

97% of all convicted sex offenders who have been released do not commit any more

sex crimes. Time spans in the studies ranged from 3 to 13 years. The offenders

included those who had committed crimes against children, as well as those who had

committed crimes against adults. A 1994 U.S. Department of Justice study of

recidivism of sex offenders versus other ex-convicts showed that 87% of sex crimes

during the study period were committed by someone other than a convicted sex

offender.

Aren’t all or most sex crimes committed by people formerly convicted of a sexFederal and State crime statistics and data on

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the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics 2000 report, “Sexual

Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and

Offender Characteristics” show that a surprising 40% of reported sex crimes against

children are committed by other children (under the age of 18), not by adults. So not

all sex offenders are adults.

Aren’t all sex offenders warped or psychologically damaged adults? Data from

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between the terms “sex offender” and “sexual predator.” According to Grubin and

Winegate

and 13% of the population of sex offenders. Theses predators are likely to commit

other sex crimes. The other 87% to 97% of sex offenders are very unlikely to commit

any more sex crimes. This shows that not all sex offenders are sexual predators.

Only a small percentage of them are. These predators can be identified through

existing assessment tools. If these people are not incarcerated or civilly committed,

Once a sex offender, always a sexual predator. There is an important difference1 statistics, apparent sexual predators constitute somewhere between 2.5%

they should have the highest level of police attention, in order to protect the public.

The low-risk sex offenders are a different group with a different risk level and should

be treated differently, using programs outlined in this report. This approach will result

in significant cost savings without increasing risks to the public.

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that the registry will list 'the most violent and predatory sex offenders'; however,

people caught up in this situation are most times given the appalling choice only

between 25 years to life if you go to trial, or accept a plea bargain. What they are not

told, is the plea bargain countless times includes the predator label and registering for

life. Unfortunately many times this includes one-crime one-victim, non-violent and novictim

(public exposure that was not even witnessed by anyone) offenders, even

those who were never officially charged or convicted of a sex offense and the severity

of the sentence and label depends highly on public and judicial attitude of the day.Abuse of the Predator Label. The stated legislative intent of Megan's Law specifies

new videos that i just found on Ken Kratz

http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/Women-speak-about-why-they-filed-complaints-against-Kratz-103589259.html

This is very disturbing to me, that the guy that was supposed to protect victims of crimes, was sexualy assalting them. There is big issues that people of power are getting away with these types of things. If i would have done this, this man would have yelled from the highest mountain and would have made a hudge deal about this, but instead he did everything possible to cover it up. This is a double standard, and this man should be punished. This is why people are affraid to file with the district attorneys information about crimes and vitimizations. This man violated his oath to protect victims of crime and now he is going to get away with this. All that happened he lost his office, but know he opened his law office. Therr is big issues here!

GPS System Limitations straight from BI Inc, Wisconsins GPS provider

GPS System Limitations

Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking systems were originally designed and utilized by the

military for a variety of purposes, but generally to provide location and/or velocity information

of objects or individuals around the world. GPS has been used in the last decade by civilians to

effectively track vehicles, inventory, Alzheimer’s patients, migrating animals, and even pets.

In community corrections, GPS tracking is a form of intensive supervision used most commonly to

monitor higher-risk individuals under community supervision. Offenders are tracked by a portable

GPS receiver that is carried or worn. In order to provide accurate location information, a receiver

must be in clear sight of at least three satellites. In most normal situations, a human being is likely in

view of between five and eight satellites; however there are basic limitations in GPS technology that

inhibit or block transmissions for brief or extended periods of time.

Known Geographic & Weather Related Limitations

Since satellite transmission power is low, certain geographical conditions may cause problems with

a GPS receiver’s ability to record location data:

Terrain

information if the view of the sky is severely limited. This situation can occur in deep canyons, or

under dense vegetation.

– Signals can become degraded and the receiver system may not provide location

Urban Canyons

fading errors that may affect the ability to track offenders.

– Large or tall buildings grouped closely together can cause large multi-path and

Vehicles

transportation if the receiver is not placed near a window within the vehicle.

– Signals can be lost when an offender is riding in a car or other enclosed means of

Weather

Because of these factors, it is difficult to ensure complete or thorough GPS coverage at all times.

However, with the ongoing advancements in technology, certain system components and features

are now available that improve the equipment capabilities. For example, omni-directional antennas

enable tracking devices to pick up GPS coverage in virtually any orientation. Flat patch antennas are

not as advanced and must maintain an upright position to receive coverage. Reliable radio frequency

(RF) technology, cellular towers and Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) can also be paired

with GPS to enhance system accuracy.

Due to the types of individuals normally being supervised with GPS by community corrections

professionals (i.e. higher-risk offenders on parole/probation, pre-trial defendants, etc.), equipment

reliability is imperative. Community safety is a concern if faulty or sub-standard equipment is used

to supervise individuals that may otherwise be in detention, jail or prison. Affordable and effective

alternatives to incarceration are available and agencies must consider the benefits as well as the

system limitations and liabilities that exist with all GPS products.

http://bi.com/sites/all/themes/BI/pdf/GPSlimitations.pdf

Here is a link to BI Inc. GPS page http://bi.com/exacutrackat– Signal strength can become degraded by moisture such as rainfall, fog, or snowfall.