For Information Contact:

Brian Adey
 798-5800

Oneida County Executive Joseph A. Griffo today announced that Oneida County is implementing his plan to use a GPS tracking system to provide 24/7 monitoring of the most serious sex offenders living in Oneida County.

“If this system helps deter one crime, if it saves one victim, if it helps us intervene to prevent a crime, it will have proven its value,” Griffo said. “Although we know that there is no perfect system, this is a deterrent that can help provide an added level of safety because offenders who are required to wear the GPS tracking devices will know that we know where they are and when they go places they should not.”

Griffo said that training in the new technology begins this week for members of the Oneida County Probation Department. Griffo said Oneida County is starting its tracking system with 5 units to determine the effectiveness of the technology before investing more resources.

Under the system, offenders’ movements are tracked and recorded on a Web site that can be accessed by Probation Department officials.

“With one click, we can see where they have gone. If they are going in or even near a place such as a school where they are not allowed to go, we will have the evidence needed to charge an offender with a Violation of Probation charge,” Griffo said. “We believe that this will be a deterrent to any offenders who may be likely to commit crimes, because even if they are scouting out a place, we’ll know it. If they change their usual daily pattern, we’ll know it. For people who are living their lives and trying to rebuild their lives, there is nothing to fear. But for those who are contemplating a crime, the GPS monitoring will make it impossible to escape detection.”

Griffo said that no tracking system is 100 percent safe because offenders can remove the bracelets that contain the GPS tracking. “But when we see a pattern of movements start to change, when we see that the bracelet did not go where it has always gone, then we have the ability to act and find out what’s going on,” Griffo said.

Griffo said that the Oneida County Probation Department currently has about 60 sex offenders under supervision, most of which are Level II offenders, and 1 Level III offender, the highest level of risk. “We are taking pro-active steps because this is an area where County Government can address issues that meet the needs of our people, and to me the most vital need is to protect out children and other vulnerable residents,” Griffo said. “Not every county may want to pursue this issue this aggressively, but I think we have an obligation to move forward.”