Court-issued GPS ankle bracelets that track thousands of people across Massachusetts fail to keep gun-toting defendants from reoffending, the Boston Herald reports. “It’s a great frustration to law enforcement, it’s a great frustration to the people that we serve in our community,” said Boston Police Commissioner William Gross. “It’s just repeat offenses with the same folks.” Gross said his officers must deal with “second, third and fourth” gun-related cases from suspects already on GPS monitors. Incident reports dating back to October list suspects accused of gun crimes while out on GPS monitoring, such as Marquis Martin, 28, who was wanted for a murder on Oct. 29 and a drive-by shooting the same day. He was caught in a Rhode Island motel. In February, an ankle bracelet-wearing suspect reportedly pistol-whipped a convenience store cashier with a semiautomatic handgun and took off with $1,500 cash. He was later busted.
There are about 3,650 people across the state wearing GPS hardware,. At an Aug. 14 triple-shooting scene, Gross said that “ankle bracelets do not work,” and pressed judges to get tougher. Former judges agreed there’s a need for reform in bail and probation systems, but they called the commissioner’s shots “unfair.” “When horrific things happen, to point out judges and fire off criticisms at them is really superficial,” said former judge Tom Merrigan. Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, agreed that the system needs fixing. “GPS devices simply aren’t deterrents among the cohort of violent offenders who drive the city’s violence,” he said. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said community correction centers are alternatives to bracelets.“You don’t put people out in the community and take the risk of putting an ankle bracelet on them,” he said. “You’re telling me you don’t completely trust them to do the right thing.”