From the Tell-Me-That-It-Wasn’t-Bleeding-Obvious-That-It-Wouldn’t-Work-The-First-Time-Around department:
Plans to use satellite tracking to monitor sex offenders have been shelved by the government.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the project had been suspended pending further “developments in technology”.
A two-year pilot scheme found that the equipment could be blocked or distorted by high rise buildings or even trees.
However, just in case your faith in the ability of government to deal with the bleedin’ obvious was beginning to recover a little, fear not. Woo and technological pixie dust still have a part to play in government:
Ministers are now believed to be planning to use lie detectors as a new technique to deal with paedophiles.
Legislation was passed last year to expand the programmes of polygraph or lie detector tests.
It’s discredited technology, so it’s no great suprise that the MoJ are about to order a gazillion pounds-worth. Probably from EDS.
However, they are at least being honest about the reasons for this:
Napo’s spokesman said: “The polygraph is likely to be of limited value because sex offenders can manipulate the outcomes.
“It remains the case, however, that sufficient controls should be in place for each individual case to maximise public perception, ” he said.
Which translated from PR-speak means, “We know that they’re fucking useless, but this looks good in a Daily Mail headline so we’re going to do it anyway.”
