GPS and Domestic Violence

A good article in the Boston Globe today that attempts to address a problem that we, as a nation, are just doing abysmally at solving. Full text:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/21/gps_urged_vs_domestic_violence/

About 1500 women are killed each year by violent partners (almost always males)(Source: FBI Uniform Crime Statistics). There is no reliable statistic for the number of women beaten, but one empirically knows it's much higher than those killed ... this alone is a comment on our society in that the predominantly male FBI doesn't even bother with beatings ... must be many men out there who believe a wife is always someone who can benefit from a good thumping when she's 'wrong'. There's some dynamic in the human male that seems to bring out the worst whenever marriage/partnership relationships 'go south'.

The legal 'cure' is for a woman who feels threatened to obtain a TRO ... Temporary Restraining Order from a court to instruct the potentially abusive partner to leave her (and her children) alone. Frequently these TROs contain provisions that restrict the subject of the order from approaching the protected person closer than a certain distance.

I don't have a firm statistic but it appears that a huge percentage of physically abused or murdered persons were already under the "protection" of a TRO. If a man takes the notion to go wild and commit violence the existence of a piece of paper from a civil court instructing him not to do so has little or no effect. A person with murder in their heart knows that if apprehended they face severe criminal charges .. the addition of some civil penalty on top of that has little more weight than a fly.

The Massachusetts initiative has two very important features. Number one, unless violation of a TRO is made a felony there is little police can do ... as it exists today in many states violating a civil TRO has about the same legal consequences as failing to license your dog. This places law enforcement in a no-win situation. If the suspected offender brandishes a weapon or makes other obvious threats then he/she can be arrested on some criminal charge ... but absent any evidence of criminal activity, violating the TRO is not really something the police can do much about.

The second important point is the proposal to use GPS devices to monitor the compliance with the order. At such a nominal cost, $10 a day, it sounds like a real bargain to the state. if it were my program, I'd impose the daily monitoring fee upon the subject ... and perhaps refund him at a later date for good behavior if the order was never violated. I don't know how good the chances are for this initiative but I applaud it and hope the idea spreads to other states.

There's an old fable about a dangerous cliff and the debate by authorities if it would be more practical to put a safety railing at the top of the cliff or station and ambulance down at the bottom. As of today, the USA's main response to domestic violence has been to place the ambulance at the bottom. Guardrails (or GPS) could save more lives and cost a lot less both in dollars and in pain.