County to track inmates with GPS

By Staff
Melissa Cason, Franklin County Times
The Franklin County Community Corrections will enhance their services in June by providing GPS tracking of offenders to ensure a safer community.
Beginning this month, the Franklin County Community Corrections will have GPS ankle bracelets to track state inmates who require a high level of surveillance, Eugene Pierce, executive director for the program, said.
"We were contacted by a company in Huntsville about providing ankle bracelets for our program," Pierce said.
The company, UAI, is a leading surveillance company looking to expand their services to include tracking with ankle bracelets, Pierce said.
Franklin County's Community Corrections will receive 25 bracelets from the company initially, and they will be used in several different ways to service the program.
"I think it's [the bracelets] really going to grow with time," Pierce said.
Pierce foresees the different ways to use the bracelets such as tracking juveniles and domestic violence offenders.
"The bracelets are tracked continuously by the surveillance company," Pierce said.
Another feature with this new technology is that the offender wears the bracelet, and if their is a victim with an order of protection, the person could be granted a unit that would alert them that the offender is in close proximity, Pierce said.
Community Corrections will be trained in June on how the utilize this new system effectively, Pierce concluded.