Los Angeles, CA. - Is the ultimate gang solution near? In a FREE thirteen minute FULL DISCLOSURE NETWORK® video news blog Steve Ipsen, President of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys and Jerry Thompson, retired Sheriffs Deputy say yes and they describe the process. The courts could require juvenile offenders to wear GPS tracking devices thus deterring adult gang members from recruiting them into unlawful and violent activities, according to Ipsen, the result would be "divide and conquer the gangs". The FDN video news blog is moderated Emmy Award winning host Leslie Dutton and available FREE, 24/7, on demand and provided as a public service.
The biggest break ever in the war against gangs is ready to be employed. So says 20 year veteran prosecutor Steve Ipsen, all that is needed is for law enforcement and judicial officials is to endorse the use of new technology available for a GPS tacking system and a few modifications to the California Penal Code. Retired Sheriffs Deputy Thompson confirms the technology is here and already being deployed for similar uses.
Among the novel uses for the device in fighting gang crimes and a proposal on how to pay for it:
- Change Penal Code: Adult gang members found using juveniles would be guilty of a felony
- Send juveniles gang members to a 2 week boot camp to learn about "Three Strikes Law"
- Send juveniles to 1 week boot camp to learn how GPS tracking systems sounds alarm to monitors when curfews are violated, they skip school, fail to show up for work assignments or even wander into rival gang territory
- The cost of the GPS devices and monitoring service could be paid by taxing released criminals and parolees $50 per year for Drivers Licenses
- Parolees could be monitored as well, so if suspected of a particular crime their location could be verified and they could be arrested or removed from suspicion
Following the video viewers are asked to vote on the following survey questions:
- Should the state be authorized to place tracking devices on known gang juveniles?
- Should the parole system use tracking technology?
- Do you fear technology could threaten civil rights?
Viewers are also invited to participate in the video news blog discussion by posting comments below the streaming video. Known as "the news behind the news" Full Disclosure Network® cable television programs are featured on 43 cable systems and the Internet since 1992. In 2002 the Full Disclosure® special series "L. A.'s War Against Terrorism" was recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a local Emmy Award for a public affairs, informational series. Channels and airtimes can be found on the website at www.fulldisclosure.net.
Comments to date: 20. This is page 1 of 2.
Marco Esquivel palmdale, ca.
Posted: 11:56 pm [PST] on February 02 2010
Great idea, what were doing now is not working. we need something new.
Jesse Visalia California
Posted: 09:17 am [PST] on May 07 2009
Gps tagging is as useful as your cell phone . If your cell phone were not available to you how would you feel ?Helplessly nurvous I think? On top of that ..When a criminal commits a crime directed at you let's see how fast you reach for the phone!You won't care about what else will be tagged all you will want is help and this is help the future is now and gps is evolving and yes it is a bit scarry to give up privacy for security but the alternative is to let criminals over welm police depts.So when you call the police for help when you are a victim of any type of crime remember you had a chance to prevent it by helping them the criminals because you did not understand the beauty of gps tracking ...Also I do believe birth control should be manditory to all females or males untill they either the man or the women can prove one or the other has the finances and maturity to raise a child plus one of them has to have a college degree of some type or other so they will not add to over populating the world with ignorance......
Jesse Visalia California
Posted: 08:46 am [PST] on May 07 2009
This Tracking gps system is over due and should be implemented immediatly !!Pronto with all these rights criminals have, we are unable to defeat their influence to commit these crime everyday..Where do I donate $ to have it started here in Visalia where crime has got to be dealt with or it will grow and destroy our freedom to enjoy life and prosper like it should be. ..NOTHING TO LOSE BUT LOTS TO GAIN... society..Invest in gps on as many criminals gang members sex offenders etc, it's priceless -Time to defeat criminals-use all available options and see what else we can do to help society recover from this sad situation we are in... Hope my point is clear and thank all who invest ...you are heroes ..
Amanda Velasquez Granada Hills, CA
Posted: 09:04 pm [PST] on March 08 2009
I appreciate Mr. Ipsen's comments but any individual who feels they have THE answer, THE absolute solution to gangs is misguided to start. Mr. Ipsen's proposal to tax released criminals as a means of paying for monitoring devices and services shows a clear misunderstanding of the precarious situation faced by parolees and other probation types. Most leave incarceration only to face being broke with huge restitution fees, families in need, rent, past due bills, and nobody willing to hire criminals. The more we place on their shoulders the more likley they are to copitulate to their old lifestyles to generate funds. They need pity and discipline but asking someone who has shown themselves unable to abide by 'normal' standards to then successfully take on more hurdles and rules is impractical to say the least.
Andrew Hunt Gilbert AZ
Posted: 07:39 pm [PST] on September 21 2008
yo niggga i think is a bunch of bullshit. I'm a proud KRIP KILLA NIGGA FTP FOREVER!!! You can't take a shit on my Civil rights nigga! Come get me police!!! I shank a 5-0 bitch.
Richard E. Forbes Sr. Location unknown
Posted: 12:46 am [PST] on July 15 2008
Great proposal.The threat to my civil rights is that these gangs place me in a position of fear being in my own home. Shut down these kids before they become hardened criminals.Deal with them severely with harsh penalities to deture further developement of gangs.Deport illegal gangs at their home countries cost. May their government can deal with them.
Ingrid H-Parrista Riverside, CA
Posted: 10:11 am [PST] on June 13 2008
Without meaning any disrespect to the intellect of Mr. Ipsen, this is ridiculous. Once again, the gang issue is turns into a "safety" issue thus instilling fear on communities. When examined closely, the rising gang problem in the United States is not really a matter of a social nuisance but rather an attestment to the social problems that create gangs in the first place. For example, cities of high unemployment and low financial resources are cities where gangs are more likely to congregate. Just that small fact speaks volumes to what the realy issue behind gangs are. There are gangs because there are socioeconomic issues that create them. An upper middle class neighborhood is far less likely to have gang issues whereas impoverish communities are more likely to. Take a wild non related issue like AIDS for example. Should everyone with AIDS be "tagged" so that they do not infect others, or should the issue of WHY AIDS is a rising epidemic be a better preventative method? I think that once they start tracking "criminals" with GPS devices and the public allows it, the age of monitoring will begin. The anecdote of the frog and the pot of water is a clear reminder: if you want to cook a frog do not boil the water first because when you put the frog inside the frog will automatically jump out. But, if you put the frog while the water is still cold, and you slowly heat up the water, the frog will cook alive before it jumps out. They are heating up the water people! Once they can tell someone where they can be and who they can associate with, this will lead to restrictions on what we can see, hear, or say.
Marlon Magana Winnetka, CA
Posted: 03:34 pm [PST] on March 17 2008
It is a privelege,not a right, to be on parole or probation. If they wouldn't want to adhere to the tracking guidelines, they shouldn't request parole or probation. Church is the only reasonable place gangsters would run into eachother. But then again, if they went to church more often, they wouldn't want to be gangsters.
Phillip Lambro Los Angeles
Posted: 02:06 pm [PST] on March 01 2008
I have spoken with a few gang members in confidence and they have told me that their parents had too many children and with multiple jobs were rarely home so that the only family for them were the gangs. The solution is mandatory birth control; or we will have to have tracking devices by the millions. No one seems, for fear of antiquated religious precepts and reprisals to recognize that overpopulations breeds more gangs and gang violence.
Mark Cripe Los Angeles
Posted: 12:28 am [PST] on October 08 2007
The cost of this idea would be far greater than revenue gained by the current proposal. The criminal minded person will simply take the risk of driving without a drivers license (a misdemeanor) rather than fund a tracking system that creates risk of felony arrests. How much does it cost to track one person? What is that cost times 56,000? Who will enforce tracking violations, when we can’t even stop crime with the staffing levels we have now? If this comes to fruition we will be a short hope to “chipping” humans much like dogs are chipped today. Is that really the direction we want to go in?
This idea of making “who” one associates with a "track-able offense" is going to be a big civil rights issue. Imagine someday your church organization is identified as anti-social and you have to be tracked because you are affiliated with the organization. As of the last time I checked, affiliation with anti social people is not a criminal offense. Yes, juvenile delinquency is something we need to address, but we must tread carefully.