CRIMINALS and suspects are being tracked around Notts with new GPS tagging technology.
Notts Police tested the new tags over three months last year to monitor some people down to their exact location at any given moment, it has emerged.
Notts Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said he wanted the Government to change the law so all offenders eligible for tagging could be fitted with the devices.
He also said that if one became available, he would even be willing to wear a tag himself to test the system's effectiveness.
About 13 people have worn the tags in Notts.
The force said it was unable to provide figures showing whether any of them offended during the test.
A monitoring system using software similar to programmes seen on sat-navs and smart phones tracks their locations.
Traditional tags typically only record whether or not someone is at a certain address at a given time as part of a curfew.
Mr Tipping said: "I've met with the company G4S who are going to supply more tags to us [the force].
"Currently, they are only fitted to volunteers but there are advantages to everyone involved.
"We need a change in legislation and I want to see more volunteers come forward to be fitted.
"It's simply more effective. It can help prevent crime if you can see exactly where people are moving off to and doing things."
Current rules mean the new tags can only be used with a criminal's agreement.
The 12-month trial was free for the force but it has now ordered 20 of the tags in a deal which will cost up to £48,000.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Ian Waterfield told a meeting between senior officers and Mr Tipping that the pilot had proved a success.
He said: "I think it's proved a real deterrent in that you know where they are at any given time.
"I know there are GPS tags in future that have been ring-fenced to go to domestic violence offenders – this will certainly help us look after the victim.
"There's money been set aside over the next 12 months for it.
"It means we are tracking people all the time – not just at home, not just on a curfew. People will sometimes commit crime outside of that curfew."
In April, Mr Tipping joined two-thirds of other commissioners across the country to call for the Government to make the change to allow routine GPS tagging for community sentences.
The technology has been tested extensively by Bedfordshire Police, where offenders connected with 459 crimes before they were tagged were linked to just three offences having been fitted with a GPS device.
The Government is considering a change in the law which would provide judges with an order they could use to make offenders wear the tags.
In the Notts trial, they have also been used to track people who have not actually been convicted of a crime, such as people accused of harrassment..
Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said: "We believe that the next generation of electronic monitoring contracts will introduce the most advanced tracking technology in the world that can be deployed. It also will be better value for the taxpayer."
