CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — State legislators are trying to strengthen penalties for offenders who cut off or remove their ankle monitors, but local law-enforcement agencies have mixed views on the potential move.
Nueces County Adult Probation Director William Shull said that ankle monitors do help law officials keep track of around 200 local offenders, but he said even that many is too many to monitor 24/7.
"It's not going to stop somebody from doing something if they want to do it," he said. "There are ways to circumvent it."
There currently is no law against cutting off an ankle monitor. The proposed law would make tampering with the device a criminal offense.
Recently, authorities arrested Eric Lopez Berber, who allegedly killed his wife and fled to San Antonio after removing his ankle monitor.
While the devices do help authorities keep track of inmates, Nueces County Sheriff J.C. Hooper said that ankle monitors are not the answer to overcrowded jails for violent offenders.
"If they're prone to kill somebody with or without an ankle monitor on, I don't know that another felony for cutting an ankle monitor off is going to be a deterrent," he said.
San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera said that since his county is smaller, his department is able to make better use of ankle monitors to track offenders.
"We think we are going the right direction," he said.
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