Parolees leave suburb fearful

PAROLEES have every right to go about their lives on the outside without being victimised for their past bad decisions. But so have their neighbours. Residents living near a halfway house in Bungalow are beside themselves at the moment with trespassing becoming an almost daily occurrence.

Even more galling is the fact that the people they catch sneaking around their properties are, more often than not, wearing ankle bracelets.

It begs the obvious question: what is the point of putting GPS trackers on cons if they are able to run around other people’s properties at night without getting thrown back in the slammer?

Getting out of prison and starting a new law-abiding life is a tough gig, and Queensland Corrective Services has a suite of supervision orders it can enforce to help keep parolees on the straight and narrow.

They can be forced to undergo drug or alcohol treatment and abstain from said drugs and alcohol, monitoring of their accommodation and who they associate with, excluding them from going near entertainment precincts or their victims, and deciding how often they must report to their parole officers.

Then there is the GPS tracker option, which allow QCS to monitor every movement made by parolees.

It is not fair to expect law-abiding citizens to be constantly on edge, peering out their windows and jumping at the rustle of leaves in their back yard.

GPS trackers are put on parolees for a reason.

Use the tool for its intended purpose and everybody will be safer. Chris Calcino chris.calcino@news.com.au