Dangerous criminals will be tracked using real-time surveillance and receive more intense supervision as part of a greater focus on the most high-risk offenders, the Government has announced.
The biggest expansion of tagging in British history will mean thousands of extra domestic abusers, thieves and burglars will face tough GPS and alcohol monitoring in a £100m crackdown on crime.
Lord Timpson (below left), minister for Prisons, Probation & Reducing Reoffending, said: “This is the biggest expansion of tagging in British history and means the most dangerous offenders will now be watched more closelythan ever before.
“We’re making sure those who pose the biggest risk are under constant scrutiny.”
“By combining new technology with a stronger probation workforce, we’re making sure those who pose the biggest risk are under constant scrutiny to better protect victims and the public.
Under the new approach, supervision will be better targeted so officers can focus their time on the most dangerous offenders, while those assessed as lower-risk will require fewer routine appointments.
To further increase public protection and cut crime, a reinforced probation workforce will focus more of their time on prolific offenders and ramp up the face-to-face monitoring of those who pose the biggest risk to the public.
A further £8m is also being invested in new technology to reduce time-consuming admin tasks and save up to 250,000 days of valuable time every year, allowing frontline staff to spend more time monitoring offenders and keeping our streets safe.
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change to make streets safer, it said tens of thousands more criminals will be tagged over the next three years as part of a major technology expansion.
A separate pilot where convicted burglars and thieves are forced to wear a GPS tag so their movements can be tracked against unsolved crimes will also be rolled out across the country.
Evidence is increasingly proving the effectiveness of tags in cutting crime. Published research shows GPS and curfew tags can reduce reoffending by around 20%, and alcohol monitoring orders have compliance rates above 97%.
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