Electronic Tagging?!?!?!

BGonaSTICK

Is it just me, or is it a bit odd that the media whip up such a storm about the most meaningless cr@p, but nobody even bats an eyelid at convicted criminals, just released from prison and wearing electronic tagging devices, playing in Premiership football games?

Apparently, Gary Croft of Ipswich and Matthew Sparrow of S****horpe both played with one, but Jermaine Pennant becomes the first footballer in the top flight to wear one.

Is this not a really bad image for a professional club to portray to all the watching kids?

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but this doesn't seem at all right to me.

Maybe it's just the latest fashion accessory.

__________________

gameboy

The much-vaunted "prison without bars" system of electronic tags for sex offenders has suffered severe technical problems, it emerged yesterday.

Ministers were also privately advised to cover up the fact that trees, clouds and buildings all blocked the tagging systems for paedophiles and other sex offenders, a leaked document revealed.

A memo to Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, recommended extending the scheme to improve the outcomes, adding: "We have not sought to publicise the pilot scheme. . . due to the risks of negative media coverage of the poor results."

According to the document, the Home Office press office had "strongly advised against any publicity", it said.

David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary who launched the scheme last September in Manchester, the West Midlands and Hampshire, described the pilot as a "prison without bars".

Up to 120 offenders at any one time were due to be fitted with satellite tags to pin-point their exact location, 24 hours a day.

The leaked report said: "If the subject is between tall buildings, a canyon effect can prevent accurate location.

"Leaf cover and cloud cover can mask the strength of the signal. Location cannot be obtained on planes, some intercity trains and the Underground.

"Location is usually lost inside buildings."

The system features electronic ankle tags with a wireless connection to a mobile phone carried by the offender at all times. The network feeds back a set of co-ordinates to the tracking station so officials can see the criminal's exact location.

A Home Office spokesman said at the launch last year: "This is the first time this technology has been used in Europe."

In May 2004, Mr Blunkett said satellite tracking would mean "a more secure system and people can rest more securely in their beds".

Today's leaked report, dated July 18 2005, revealed that of the 178 offenders who had been satellite tagged so far, 83 had been recalled to prison, 66 were still being tracked and only 29 had successfully completed the course.

It proposed extending the scheme, due to finish in September, to next March.

The Home Office said yesterday that it would not comment on a leaked document. However, the department also said that the technology was improving all the time.

"The numbers being tracked have increased substantially," said a spokesman.

Why not fit them all with a dish on their heads?

__________________

Only he who does nothing, does nothing wrong.