PAROLEES AND SECURITY

To the Editor:

Although satellite tracking for parolees ("Putting Parolees on a Tighter
Leash," Jan. 31) may sound liberating to some chronic offenders, and its
ease, economy and efficiency appeal to the authorities and tax groups, this
new technique should cause the rest of us great concern.

Real-time monitoring will likely "widen the net" (and extend the duration)
of control to include misdemeanor drug users and other minor offenders who
otherwise would be left to informal surveillance or none at all. This
undermines our safety and diminishes our freedom.

Genuine security comes from self-restraint and voluntary compliance.
Without adequate rehabilitation, job training or proper after-care — not to
mention a change in the structure of employment opportunity for released
offenders — satellite tracking becomes a behavior modification tool that is
sure to backfire, fostering more clever avoidance and augmenting prisons as
schools of crime.

ROBERT P. WEISS, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The writer is a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the State
University of New York at Plattsburgh