Study proves domestic violence offenders and criminals are some of the largest purchasers of tracking devices in Australia.
Above: A tracking device located on a domestic violence Victims vehicle by The Bugsweepers in 2020. Thanks to this discovery, the offender was found guilty, and sentenced to 5.5 Years jail for over 20 breaches of AVO/DVO orders.
Key Takeaways:
Tracking devices are in demand from organized crime groups and known perpetrators of domestic violence, according to an Australian study.
The headline findings of Project Hakea – conducted by the Crime Commission in the Australian State of New South Wales and released yesterday – were that the top 100 purchasers of tracking devices are twice as likely as other buyers to have been the subject of Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs) that require them not to harass, intimidate or stalk a protected person, and 2.4 times more likely to be known for serious and organized crime offending.
Tracking devices included in the study were:
- Cellular network (sim card installed) transmitting devices
- Beacons such as Apple air tags, tiles, Samsung smart tags etc
The NSW Crime Commission concluded:
- 37 percent of customers were adversely known to the NSW Police Force for criminal behaviour.
- 15 percent of customers were known to the NSW Police Force for involvement in serious and organized crime activity.
- 25 percent of customers had a recorded history of domestic violence.
- 126 customers were Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) defendants at the time they purchased a tracking device, including some customers who purchased a tracking device in the days after an AVO was enforced.
Domestic violence offenders and tracking devices
- In its consideration of domestic and family violence (DFV), the study noted that of 96 offenders charged with unlawful use of tracking devices between 2010 and 2023, 79 were charged in relation to a domestic violence event. Magnetic GPS trackers were the most common devices used by the 96 offenders (31 events) with Bluetooth trackers used in 16 events.
- The Commission reviewed more than a dozen NSW Police Force investigations that were initiated after the offender directly told the victim they had placed a tracking device on their vehicle. The study found that “The offender often informed the victim that they were using a tracking device to gather information about the victim’s new address or new partner, or that they intended to use the location data to defame the victim in Court or within their social circles.”
- Almost 25 percent of customers identified in the study had been recorded as the person of interest in at least one domestic violence event. Of those, 169 had been recorded as the person of interest in five or more domestic violence events, and 80 had been recorded in ten or more events.
The full article was written by:
Simon Sharwood, for The Register
Wed 26th June 2024
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