On Wednesday, the state Assembly voted 96-1, to approve a bill requiring the most dangerous sex predators in the state to wear global positioning system bracelets to record their locations for the rest of their lives. It also would require that people convicted of child molestation wear a GPS bracelet for at least 20 years after their release. A dozen states have passed similar legislation.

The GPS units transmit an offender’s location to Corrections Department staff every 10 minutes. Any offender who tampers with a GPS device would be guilty of a felony and could face up to three and a half years in prison.

A fiscal estimate the Corrections Department attached to the bill said the new program would cost the agency $8.6 million a year for equipment. It said it also would cost $2.4 million annually to keep 43 new employees on the payroll to monitor the system.

While it is important to continue to monitor sex offenders after they are released from prison, the proposed GPS bracelet system doesn’t seem effective, has prohibitive costs and appears to be nothing more than a public relations ploy by officials who want to take a tough stance on sexually-based crimes.

GPS bracelets can’t stop a sex offender from re-offending; they only can make law enforcement’s jobs easier.

Further, employing a GPS system, in a way, is like an admission that the prison system isn’t working to rehabilitate violent criminals. Why are these individuals being released if the government considers them so dangerous that they must be monitored?

The cost also is exorbitant for a new, unproven system. If anything, those millions of dollars should be pumped into more effective programs.

What is needed is a continued focus on proven methods, such as public awareness campaigns and rehabilitation programs. Communities find comfort in knowing if convicted sex offenders are moving into the neighborhood. It’s doubtful a tracking system with a 10-minute delay will do the same.