Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire, Sir Clive Loader, is amongst the 26 Police and Crime Commissioners calling on the Government to let them reduce crime and cut costs – through the introduction of GPS Tagging.
In a national first, two thirds of PCCs across the country have joined together in across-party lobby of the Government asking for a change in approach to tagging. In a letter to the Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling, they ask for the opportunity to demonstrate how compulsory GPS tagging, rather than the outdated proximity tags currently in wide use, can deliver a long-term reduction in crime in their force areas.
Sir Clive is calling on the Government to allow the use GPS devices as part of a compulsory court order, for example where offenders are bailed awaiting sentence or are due for release from prison on licence.
He said: “This device works. It cuts crime and therefore reduces the number of victims. The Ministry of Justice is currently assessing the bids for the original, potentially flawed, tender but even that won’t come into effect for at least a year. We are now wasting time. There can be a lot of victims in a year, an unnecessary state of affairs that needn’t occur.
“I think we owe it to the law-abiding public to use every tool we can to keep them safe. Clearly fellow PCCs agree.”
Posted on Monday 9th May 2016