3 months ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - Alleged Jaycee Dugard kidnapper Phillip Garrido was supposed to have worn a GPS monitoring device every day from April 2008 until this August, when he was arrested.
However, records indicate his GPS signal dropped out almost every night last summer. According to a report by the state Inspector General, when Garrido was wearing his GPS device, he routinely went places he wasn't supposed to go.
None of those alerts were ever acted on, and Lance Corcoran is not at all surprised.
"Those violations happen every day in California," said Corcoran. "They are as routine as stoplights. They happen all the time."
Corcoran represents the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which includes parole officers. Corcoran said GPS helps law enforcement keep track of people like Garrido -- but that's about it.
"It doesn't prevent the crime, no more than a camera in a convenience store stops a robbery or a murder," said Corcoran. "GPS is as effective as a stoplight camera when you can't write a ticket. There is no sanction for violation, meaning I can track you on GPS all the live-long day, but when you violate, there's no punishment."
He contends that if everyone was sent back to jail for every GPS violation they made, the prison system would crash. Corcoran believes Garrido's case shows that the GPS program for parolees isn't running the way it should.
"It's worthless," said Corcoran. "It's worthless for the amount of expenses we're putting into it."
Corcoran also says his agents are actively pressured by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to not report technical violations by their parolees, such as GPS violations. He says there are simply too many people on GPS for agents to worry about each violation that every one makes.
News10 made several calls to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to response, but those calls were not returned before deadline.
Written by Will Frampton, wframpton@news10.net
News10/KXTV
