Politicians, justice officials and security experts across several German Lรคnder are meeting to explore the possibility of establishing a base of operations in Hessen that will be able to track newly released prisoners from satellites in space, using ankle bracelets (elektronische Fuรfessel) and Global Positioning technology. Many places are already doing this, with varying success, and I suppose that many of us, jailbirds or upstanding citizens, are already doing this too--submitting to tracking--voluntarily with our mobile phones, updates and announcements.
These developments reminded me of a story I saw on the superb site
Neat-o-Rama (originally via Gizmodo) about an individual in Britain who eluded the authorities by tricking the wardens to attach the tracking device to his prosthetic leg. The proposal does not aim to release dangerous criminals into the population or commute sentences to house-arrest but to monitor individuals that pose a risk as repeat-offenders, recidivists (Rรผckfรคlligkeit). This sort of probation does not replace half-way houses or true interaction, since whereabouts are not always telling of what's a-foot. Once they catch and try the culprit, I think the robber who recently held-up a casino in Bad Karma, our fair city, would make a good candidate for this pilot-programme. There has been such a flurry of casino (Spielhalle), depressing and chintzy with slot- and plinko-machines and not glamourous like Monte Carlo, building here lately, it's almost as if one could rob a gambling hall by accident without even realizing it.
