May 21, 2021
Bethan Rogers spoke to Woman’s Own Magazine about the recent Ministry of Justice pilot which would see all offenders tagged with a GPS tracker in a bid to stop them offending. She commented:
“Although tagging is an infringement on an individual’s liberty, I think it is an important tool that can reduce crime levels but, only when used alongside rehabilitation programmes.
I have no doubt that keeping tags on recently released criminals helps other members of the public feel safer, and acts as a deterrent against reoffending. However, I think the biggest advantage of electronic tagging is that it enables the justice system to monitor the behaviour of known criminals and act on any perceived threat of crime, if necessary, whilst affording the opportunity to criminals to get their lives back on track by granting them partial freedom. It allows them to search for a job, earn money and find accommodation, which would not be possible from prison.
During my 14 year legal career, I’ve found that prisoners who are helped to integrate back into society gradually, wearing a tag for a specified number of months while attending training programmes as part of their conditions of an early release, are less likely to reoffend than those who are locked away and then released.
Rehabilitating criminals into better citizens is what the justice system sets out to do”