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| Parolee first in Calif. to be tracked by GPS |
| By North County Times |
| Published: 06/27/2005 |
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The surveillance of high-risk sex offender David Allyn Dokich got a lot more precise Wednesday when he became the first offender in the state to be fitted with a satellite tracking device, state Department of Corrections spokesman Todd Slosek said. Dokich, a convicted rapist, was paroled to a group home in the unincorporated community of Mead Valley in May, a move that provoked weeks of protests from residents. Using the device ratchets up the notification system so that immediate warning is given to his parole officers and local law enforcement authorities if Dokich gets close to somewhere he's not supposed to be, such as a school, Slosek said. It also will send an instant alert if Dokich tries to cut off the GPS unit, which would result in his immediate arrest and his parole being revoked, Slosek added. Dokich was paroled in May after serving 17 1/2 years of a 35-year sentence for raping a 16-year-old Lake Elsinore girl. He previously had served time for sexually assaulting an Orange County teen. The Department of Corrections got funding for 500 GPS trackers, and the first phase of the pilot program, which began Wednesday, involves fitting 180 of the devices on parolees in Riverside, Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties, Slosek said. Opponents to Dokich's presence in a residential neighborhood near a school also have had Dokich in their sights. They have been protesting outside Dokich's residence for 49 straight days. In another development inspired by the Dokich controversy Wednesday, Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Palm Desert, introduced a bill to address what he considers flaws in the way paroled sex offenders, especially high-risk ones, are released. His bill calls for three reforms. The first would allow the Department of Corrections to put an additional 45-day hold on the release of high-risk sex offenders from prison if they are rejected for "sexually violent predator" status by the Department of Mental Health. The latter status means that before they are eligible for parole, they are tried in civil court in an effort by prosecutors to have them institutionalized after their prison sentences are up. Now, if a potential parolee is petitioned to be a sexually violent predator under the Department of Mental Health, the required 45-day notification starts while the mental-health proceedings are occurring, Slosek said. In Dokich's case, about 42 to 43 days into the process, he was determined not to be such a predator, leaving the Department of Corrections only a few days to notify the county of his imminent arrival, Slosek added. Dokich originally was going to be released into a Sun City neighborhood, but was relocated to the group home in Mead Valley when he didn't meet the age requirements of the 55-and-older community. The second prong of the legislation would require certain officials in district attorneys offices and local police or sheriffs' offices to be notified by phone, alerting them that paroled sex offenders will be released into their area. Now, only written notification is required under state law. The third facet of Benoit's bill would establish a "law enforcement consortium" in which local law enforcement officials would work collaboratively with the Department of Corrections to address issues relating to releasing paroled sex offenders with an eye toward increasing public safety. The bill is sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration and co-authored by 25 Republican legislators, Benoit said. |
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