By Greg Fry

Williams Lake to track prolific offenders using GPS ankle bracelets

Jun 5, 2018 | 10:58 AM

WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C.  — The City of Williams Lake is cracking down on prolific offenders.

This week the city — which was ranked the fourth most dangerous place to live in Canada last year by Maclean’s magazine — signed a contract for the use of GPS ankle bracelets to help reduce crime.

“We have made the decision because of our crime stats to assist the RCMP in allowing the courts to have repeat offenders monitored on a 24-hour-a-day basis no matter where they are,” Mayor Walt Cobb told CFJC Today. “Last year we had 800 calls where the RCMP had to make calls and curfew checks and that’s expensive.”

He says with the new technology, the city will pay police $16 per day per offender, enabling police to monitor roughly 12 prolific offenders in the city no matter where they are. Cobb says an alarm system will sound off alerting the RCMP to any probation breaches, noting “police won’t have to visit them five or six times a day.”

Back in March, City Councillor Scott Nelson estimated policing costs were running the central Cariboo town roughly $1 million every quarter. At the time, he said the last straw for council was when a wildfire looter was handed what he calls “a slap on the hand” by the courts.

Boogie The Bridge

Boogie The Bridge Event Information

6h ago

Two and Out

PETERS: The Loop's eviction will show us what happens when a bandage is ripped off a gaping wound

3h ago

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: 'Fairness' is not a word I would use to describe the federal budget

10h ago

Cobb says city officials plan to meet with provincial representatives and crown counsel and expects the ankle bracelets will be in use shortly.

He says breaching the civil liberties of prolific offenders is not a concern of the city.

“No, there’s no issue there because it has to be administered by the court. We don’t do it as a city council. The court and judge will make that kind of a decision; we’re just providing the tools.”