GPS Tracks Calif. Gang Members

In an attempt to keep better tabs on San Bernardino, Calif., gang members, a number of the state’s prison officials have started to use global positioning system (GPS)-enabled anklets, Reuters reports.

State prison officials affixed GPS-enabled anklets to three known gang members last week, according to Reuters.

San Bernardino, located roughly 60 miles east of Los Angeles, is the first California city to employ the technology to track gang members, Reuters reports.

In 2005, six counties across the state began using the technology to keep track of sex offenders, and a number of those offenders have been apprehended because of violations detected by the GPS anklets, according to Reuters.

Sarah Ludeman, a California Department of Corrections spokeswoman, told Reuters, “GPS tracking is just another tool in the bag; we will still use ground personnel to track gang members.”

The city of San Bernardino and state prison officials have agreed that when known, high-risk gang members are arrested and paroled, they will be released on the condition that they wear a GPS-enabled anklet at all times, Reuters reports.

People wearing the anklets look like moving dots on a digital map, and if they attempt to remove one or leave their designated areas, an alert is sent to a police base station, according to Reuters.

The results of the pilot program will be examined by the University of California at Irvine, Reuters reports.

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