Bill would tighten the penalties for criminals in Florida, which manipulate their surveillance devices

If a person in Florida has to wear an electronic monitoring device, you can manipulate via this device. But some legislators want to improve the consequences.

The measure is intended to increase integrity in the electronic surveillance system in Florida. The Republican Senator of Miami, Ileana Garcia, is behind the law.

“This legislation improves punishments for those who try to avoid the court, the supervision of illegal change, remove or damage their surveillance devices,” she said. “By guaranteeing stricter consequences, SB 1054 increases the accountability obligation and endors the effectiveness of electronic monitoring as an instrument for public security and judicial supervision.”

An electronic monitoring device like an ankle monitor notifies the officials when a violation occurs, e.g. Garcia says it is a lot for civil servants with whom they can keep up.

“I think the invoice comes due to the enormous responsibility that we have with regard to the monitoring of 145,000 perpetrators,” she said. “Thirty -thirty probation assistants have to monitor 145,000 offenders, and I think they want to close the gaps in the legal framework and ensure more enforcement.”

These criminals include people who were released from prison for probation or a conditional release. This also includes criminals that are accepted in different types of judicial supervision such as probation.
Under the invoice, a person in which a pre -judicial release with an electronic monitoring device is adorned ends their pre -judicial release.

But Marsia Brana, who spoke to the Senate's criminal judicial committee, warned that the bill would have unintentional consequences.

“It is an additional punishment,” she said. “The WLAN can go out in a hurricane or thunderstorm. The battery dies. If it works in a building like goodwill – if someone works in a building like goodwill, where the signal cannot get to the recipient … A malfunction when walking in the rain … A device is not waterproof …”

The list continues, said Brana. For example, a signal cannot reach the recipient in an area with a lot of metal.

“Florida has already been burdened with a prison of 2.2 billion US dollars,” she said. “But legislators want to create more laws with additional conviction levels that do nothing to protect crime because most people do not know anything about this law and do not actually deter the crimes. Please consider whether they are researching the unintentionally …”

But the democratic senator Jason Pizzo, a prosecutor, supported the measure.

“If someone is a surveillance device for an indictment and one of the conditions for leaving – let's say a ankle monitor, and now they do clocks and everything – and if they hurt and revoke their bond, I agree,” he said.

The Senate's criminal judicial committee unanimously passed the bill. The subcommittee for the criminal justice of the house has approved a version of the law that is now in the judicial committee of the house.