❓ Mr. Jacob questions the Minister for Corrective Services on actions to protect communities from dangerous sexual offenders. The Minister details the Liberal-National government's implementation of GPS tracking for released offenders, including retrospective fitting and mandatory jail terms for interference.
AnsweredQoN 592Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DANGEROUS SEXUAL
OFFENDERS — GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM MONITORING
592. Mr A.P. JACOB to the Minister for Corrective Services:
I was pleased to witness the first
and second readings of the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Amendment Bill 2012 in
this place today. With this in mind, could the minister please inform the house
what action the Liberal–National government is taking to further
protect communities such as my own from dangerous sexual offenders?
OFFENDERS — GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM MONITORING
592. Mr A.P. JACOB to the Minister for Corrective Services:
I was pleased to witness the first
and second readings of the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Amendment Bill 2012 in
this place today. With this in mind, could the minister please inform the house
what action the Liberal–National government is taking to further
protect communities such as my own from dangerous sexual offenders?
AnswerView source ↗
The member for Ocean Reef has a keen interest in crime issues
in his electorate and, no doubt, across Western Australia. The Liberal–National
government is very serious about dealing with crime in our community. Of
course, we have, in fact, 18 declared dangerous sex offenders in our midst.
They are being supervised currently under a management scheme by the Department
of Corrective Services. Today in this house we have introduced another level of
management involving new technology, a global positioning tracking system,
which will allow electronic monitoring of standard conditions of supervision
orders for release of dangerous sex offenders. When a declared dangerous sex
offender is released they will automatically become subject to a supervision
order, subsequent to the application of a GPS tracking device. Current sex
offenders in our midst also will be captured by this legislation; that means
they will be retrospectively fitted with a device.
The technology allows also for
curfews to restrict these dangerous sex offenders from going into certain areas
and making sure they are at the right place at the right times. The community
corrections officers also have the power to install and remove these electronic
devices, as set out by the courts, to allow the curfews to occur following
approval, might I point out, at a deputy commissioner or above level. Two
deputy commissioners and a commissioner have the authority to approve the
installation and removal of these devices.
I suppose what will be of keen
interest to many people in Western Australia is that if anyone tries to
interfere with or remove one of these devices, there is a mandatory jail term
of 12 months. People have commented that mandatory sentencing is an issue. The
paramount concern of this government is the safety of the community at large.
To have dangerous sex offenders restricted with this new technology, I think,
gives another level of comfort to the people of Western Australia knowing that
all that can be done is being done to protect the community. In addition the
GPS equipment will be monitored by a public protection unit, manned
specifically by Department of Corrective Services staff. I am pleased to
announce that they will be co-located in a separate office at the police
operations centre in Midland, where they can have direct connectivity with the
operations of our police officers on the streets. Preliminary discussions with
police on the streets indicate that they are more than happy to implement
section 43 of the act to apprehend those people who breach this particular
section of the act. The fact that the GPS tracking device has the capacity to
not only track but also record the movements of these individuals adds to the
capacity of evidence gathering in relation to any potential offence they may
decide to be involved in.
Having said that, this is not a
silver-bullet situation. This is just another level of technology we are
implementing to manage people who, inevitably, will be released back into our
society. The Liberal government is taking tough action in relation to law and
order on our streets. We know about the capacity within our prisons.
Hand-in-hand with the announcement by the police minister this week about the
online dangerous sex offender register, I think this is another example of how
this government is taking the protection of the community in Western Australia
seriously.
in his electorate and, no doubt, across Western Australia. The Liberal–National
government is very serious about dealing with crime in our community. Of
course, we have, in fact, 18 declared dangerous sex offenders in our midst.
They are being supervised currently under a management scheme by the Department
of Corrective Services. Today in this house we have introduced another level of
management involving new technology, a global positioning tracking system,
which will allow electronic monitoring of standard conditions of supervision
orders for release of dangerous sex offenders. When a declared dangerous sex
offender is released they will automatically become subject to a supervision
order, subsequent to the application of a GPS tracking device. Current sex
offenders in our midst also will be captured by this legislation; that means
they will be retrospectively fitted with a device.
The technology allows also for
curfews to restrict these dangerous sex offenders from going into certain areas
and making sure they are at the right place at the right times. The community
corrections officers also have the power to install and remove these electronic
devices, as set out by the courts, to allow the curfews to occur following
approval, might I point out, at a deputy commissioner or above level. Two
deputy commissioners and a commissioner have the authority to approve the
installation and removal of these devices.
I suppose what will be of keen
interest to many people in Western Australia is that if anyone tries to
interfere with or remove one of these devices, there is a mandatory jail term
of 12 months. People have commented that mandatory sentencing is an issue. The
paramount concern of this government is the safety of the community at large.
To have dangerous sex offenders restricted with this new technology, I think,
gives another level of comfort to the people of Western Australia knowing that
all that can be done is being done to protect the community. In addition the
GPS equipment will be monitored by a public protection unit, manned
specifically by Department of Corrective Services staff. I am pleased to
announce that they will be co-located in a separate office at the police
operations centre in Midland, where they can have direct connectivity with the
operations of our police officers on the streets. Preliminary discussions with
police on the streets indicate that they are more than happy to implement
section 43 of the act to apprehend those people who breach this particular
section of the act. The fact that the GPS tracking device has the capacity to
not only track but also record the movements of these individuals adds to the
capacity of evidence gathering in relation to any potential offence they may
decide to be involved in.
Having said that, this is not a
silver-bullet situation. This is just another level of technology we are
implementing to manage people who, inevitably, will be released back into our
society. The Liberal government is taking tough action in relation to law and
order on our streets. We know about the capacity within our prisons.
Hand-in-hand with the announcement by the police minister this week about the
online dangerous sex offender register, I think this is another example of how
this government is taking the protection of the community in Western Australia
seriously.
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