Electronic monitoring may discourage sex offenders from violating their probation, but law enforcement needs the resources and initiative to back it up.
A Times Editorial
Published April 18, 2005
Jessica Lunsford's murder was the latest in a string of high-profile killings that highlight the need for Florida to better monitor criminals on probation. Bills moving through the Florida Legislature would lengthen prison terms for serious sex offenders and require them to be tracked electronically upon release. Tougher penalties may be one appropriate response. But this is little more than grandstanding unless lawmakers spend more on the system overseeing probation.
Nine-year old Jessica vanished from her Citrus County home in late February, and authorities say John Evander Couey, a 46-year-old registered sex offender living near the girl's home, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed her. Couey, who has pleaded not guilty, moved into a house within sight of Jessica's home without notifying law enforcement as required by law.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, calls for life in prison for an adult who molests a child under 12, and electronic monitoring - in some cases, for life - for serious offenders released into the community. Judges, police and probation officers would share more information on cases, and people who harbor offenders from police would face five years in prison. The bill also extends from the current 20 years to 30 years as the minimum length of time an offender with a clean record must retain his "sexual predator" designation.
Conceptually, at least, electronic tracking of serious offenders could discourage some from violating the terms of their probation. It also could provide law enforcement with warning flags that could prevent a tragedy. A St. Petersburg Times analysis last year showed that hundreds of violent offenders in Florida were still on probation even after repeatedly breaking the rules. Couey is hardly alone; in two other high-profile cases last year - the murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota and the mass slayings in Deltona - the defendants exposed a probation system that was slow, disjointed and weak.
Couey's case exposed a lack of logic, resources, follow-up and accountability - the same gaps in serious cases that have called probation into question throughout the state. For probation or monitoring to work, law enforcement needs more staff, better technology and the ability to communicate in real time to more regularly supervise released offenders.
While lawmakers have set aside $8-million for new electronic monitors and a handful of prison beds, that amount would hardly make a dent statewide. The legislation also does not address important specifics: How would local courts and police institute broader monitoring? Who would track the monitor, when and how? Will probation officers be pulled away from other duties, enabling other offenders to slip through the cracks? These details are not small - they are the one constant in every recent tragedy. How much lawmakers are prepared to move beyond longer sentences and high-tech monitoring will show whether they want results or headlines.
