With more criminals and domestic violence offenders using GPS tracking devices to commit serious crimes, the NSW Crime Commission is recommending stricter controls on the sale of these devices.
The commission's findings, released on Tuesday and first published in Australia, show that one in four people who have purchased GPS tracking devices since 2023 have been victims of domestic violence in the past.
The data was obtained from various retailers who sold 5,500 GPS tracking devices to 3,000 people.
By comparing this sales data with criminal records and intelligence records, it was also found that 37 percent of customers who purchased tracking devices had a negative history with the police, 15 percent had a history of serious and organized crime, and 9 percent had been exposed to both domestic and family violence and serious and organized crime.
And at the time of purchase, 126 customers of these tracking devices were defendants under a restraining order for violence.
The analysis has shown that a high number of convicted criminals have used GPS tracking devices as a tool in their crimes.
In NSW, it is an offence to install a tracking device to track a person without their consent.
Commenting on the latest report, New South Wales State Commissioner of Crime Michael Barnes said crimes facilitated by the use of tracking devices included murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. In addition, the devices were also frequently used by particularly vulnerable perpetrators of domestic and family violence.
“Tracking devices are widely used by organised crime networks to monitor, locate and ultimately attack their rivals. In fact, they are now a standard tool of organised violent crime,” said Commissioner Barnes, adding that these devices are easily accessible, inexpensive and easy to conceal.
The report's findings were part of the Commission's Hakea project to investigate the use of tracking and other surveillance devices as enablers of serious and organised crime in NSW.
The project also investigated the conduct of some private detectives and spy agencies. Commissioner Barnes said: “There are some individuals in the private detective industry who appear to knowingly facilitate crime or even commit crime themselves by secretly pursuing targets on behalf of their clients.”
Domestic and family violence
With 25 percent of customers who have purchased tracking devices since 2023 having been victims of domestic and family violence in the past, urgent action is needed.
The Commission's report states that there is ample evidence that the most dangerous time for victims of domestic violence is immediately after a separation. 58 percent of homicides of domestic partners occurred after a planned or actual separation.
Alarmingly, Project Hakea data shows that 75 percent of perpetrators accused of using DFV-related tracking devices began stalking the victim after the breakup.
In two specific cases, the Commission found that perpetrators continued to monitor their partners while they were incarcerated for domestic violence.
Another case highlighted in the report in which a tracking device was used involved a male offender who first shot his wife and then shot himself in regional NSW.
The couple had been married for more than 25 years and law enforcement had no known history of domestic violence. However, in the month before the woman's murder, the male perpetrator had used a GPS tracking device purchased from an in-store auto parts store to monitor the victim's movements.
This stalking continued until at least one day before the murder, and the perpetrator's children and neighbors were aware of this stalking. Ultimately, this stalking appeared to be part of a series of behaviors that the perpetrator used to prevent the victim from ending the relationship.
Annabelle Daniel, OAM, executive director of leading domestic and family violence organisation Women's Community Shelters, told Women's Agenda that they have observed increasing technological surveillance among the women who visit their shelters.
“We found tracking tiles in teddy bears, hidden in the wheel arches of strollers, and we tracked residents via Fitbits left in vehicles.”
“Monitoring devices enhance an abuser's ability to track their partner and children. They allow them to know where they are at all times and create a climate of 'omnipresence' of the abuser,” says Daniel.
“This can cause significant anxiety and isolation in victims, as any social contact with someone becomes a risk that they could later be questioned about. In addition, if an offender displays high levels of sexual jealousy, the risk to the victim increases significantly.”
CEO of Women's Community Shelters, Annabelle Daniel, OAM
A challenge for law enforcement
Although these findings are extremely alarming, Commissioner Barnes said it is difficult for law enforcement agencies to combat these crimes “because the sale of these devices is not adequately regulated.”
“A regulation aimed at giving law enforcement more power to investigate exactly who is buying these devices and to match found devices to a buyer will enable law enforcement to be more proactive and stop crimes before they happen,” said Commissioner Barnes.
The Crime Commission has put forward five reform proposals aimed at limiting criminals' access to tracking devices, adapting criminal legislation to the seriousness of these types of crimes and increasing community safety.
The report recommends safeguards such as anti-stalking measures and tighter controls on the sale of tracking devices, in particular by ensuring that people with an AVO are prohibited from purchasing these devices.
From 1 July, coercive control will become a criminal offence in NSW, carrying a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
The definition of coercive control involves perpetrators engaging in patterns of abusive behavior over an extended period of time that create fear and deny freedom and autonomy. This includes tracking a person's movements or communications.
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