Steve Turner, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, has called on the Policing Minister to prioritise Cleveland in the government’s rollout of GPS tags for prolific offenders.
The Commissioner has written to Minister Kit Malthouse to recommend that Cleveland is included in the thirteen forces which have been selected as part of a wider rollout in September.
The Ministry of Justice launched the tagging pilot in March this year, with seven forces taking part and an estimated 250 offenders due to be tagged within the first six months.
Cleveland has some of the highest reoffending rates in the country, with 38.4% of offenders going on to commit further crime.
The local authority areas of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees have the third, fourth and fourteenth highest reoffending rates in England and Wales.
Steve said: “I have been vocal about the need for the criminal justice system to use technology to help them detect, apprehend and manage offenders in our communities, particularly those who repeatedly commit offences.
“Our communities have been plagued for too long by the same small cohort of offenders who are not deterred by the current system and something needs to change.
“These tags will offer Cleveland Police a 24-hour-a-day insight into the movements of these serial offenders and such rigorous supervision should act as a deterrent to make them think twice about a life of crime.”
Read the PCC's letter to the Policing Minister