There are nearly 3,000 sex offenders walking the streets of Florida and their every move is tracked by Pro Tech, a company based in Pasco County.
Pro Tech designs and builds sophisticated tracking devices. It attaches those devices to the ankles of sex offenders.
"We see in one minute intervals everywhere the offender is going," explained Pro Tech's President Steve Chapin.
"We can determine the offender's behavior," he said.
Pro Tech has been tracking sex offenders for 14 years, but it recently lost a bid to renew that contract. A Colorado based company under cut Pro Tech's bid and won the contract. Now some lawmakers say the effort o save money may be dangerous.
"Public safety should never ever come in second and in this case it has," Senator Mike Fasano said.
Pro Tech said it has a 99.99999% reliability record. Its Pasco County facility is backed up by another facility in Jacksonville. Conversely, Fasano claims the Colorado firm has a history of technical failures.
"The company in Colorado has a record of going completely down so you have no idea where these felons are," he said.
Fasano raised his concerns with the Florida Department of Corrections. The secretary responded "The Department's number one priority is public safety. We believe that the process for the electronic monitoring contract adequately took this priority into account."
Read the original story on My Fox Tampa Bay
