Originally published Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Sex offenders get tracking bracelets
The state Department of Corrections announced Wednesday that all of the state's most violent sex offenders will be required to wear tracking bracelets upon their release from prison.
Seattle Times staff reporter
The state Department of Corrections is now requiring all of the state's most violent sex offenders to wear tracking bracelets for at least a month after they're released from prison.
The move comes a year after corrections officials started testing GPS monitoring bracelets on a handful of Level 3 sex offenders, considered to be the most dangerous and most likely to reoffend.
Two weeks ago, 89 Level 3 offenders across the state were wearing the ankle bracelets. Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said that Wednesday's announcement means that nearly 200 offenders could be on GPS monitoring at any given time.
Starting Wednesday, all Level 3 sex offenders will be required to wear GPS tracking bracelets for the first month after their release from prison, according to the Department of Corrections (DOC).
Offenders who are homeless or unemployed or who fail to meet the criteria set forth by their community-corrections officers could remain in the tracking program beyond one month, DOC officials said.
"We only expand programs that we believe help improve public safety," DOC Secretary Eldon Vail said in a news release. "These GPS locaters give our officers another tool to supervise the highest-risk sex offenders."
Annmarie Aylaward, who oversees the GPS-monitoring program for DOC, said the department has found that the first 30 days within an offender's release is when they are most likely to violate conditions of their supervision.
The tracking program was announced last year after 12-year-old Zina Linnik, of Tacoma, was abducted and killed by convicted sex offender Terapon Adhahn. Adhahn was sentenced to life in prison without parole earlier this year.
Over the past year more than 200 sex offenders have been placed in the GPS-monitoring program at one time or another, DOC officials said.
While DOC has seen successes with GPS monitoring, some offenders have discarded or failed to charge the devices, which cost $1,500 to replace. If an offender discards or fails to charge the device, he or she now will face arrest by DOC.
In addition to the GPS-monitoring bracelet, offenders are given a locator box, which tracks the GPS signal and can receive text messages from DOC staff members.
Offenders are told to keep the locator box charged. If the battery runs out or the offender strays more than 150 feet from the locator box, the offender's tracking device beeps; community-corrections staff members also receive an e-mail update each day, DOC officials said.
Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report. Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
![]()
Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
Illegal workers quietly let go
Metro won't cut bus service after all
Jerry Large: Food-bank theft turns into a gift
Bumper to Bumper: How can the city let bridges go dark?

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
A American Table, Chairs and Bench - $275
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Kimberly Baker Jewelry Launch Party
- Bella Umbrella Holiday Sale
- CraftsGiving
- Beyond Threads Outlet Biannual Clearance Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
283 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
168 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
167 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
132 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
126 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
91 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
70 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
66 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
62 - Ranking the Pac
53
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit

