Contact: Jeff Barbosa
(916) 319-2020

SACRAMENTO – A bill by Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) would set up an electronic monitoring system for domestic abusers and stalkers who violate restraining orders.

The legislation, AB 1081, is designed to protect domestic abuse and stalking victims from repeat offenders. 

“Stalking and domestic abuse are terrible crimes where the offender has a specific target in mind,” Majority Leader Torrico said.  “The intent of this bill is to set up a program using a global positioning system that immediately alerts the victim and police if an offender enters into an exclusionary zone.  Violators of protective orders would go through a risk assessment through the courts to determine if they should be fitted with this technology.”

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  Almost one third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner.  In 70 to 80 percent of intimidate partner homicides, the man physically abused the woman before the murder, according to the coalition.

“If we can intervene and use that technology to stop the cycle of violence, we should do it,” Torrico said.

One in 12 women and one in 45 men have been stalked in their lifetime.

Another Torrico bill, AB 1082, would create two funds, the Domestic Violence Prevention Fund and the Domestic Abuser Surveillance Fund, both paid for by a tax on adult entertainment. The GPS monitoring would also be supported by imposing additional penalties on violators. The Domestic Violence Prevention Fund would support survivors of rape, stalking, domestic abuse and sexual assault.  The amount of the adult entertainment tax is yet to be determined.

“The intent of these bills is to structure a program for GPS monitoring of domestic abusers and stalkers that has a dedicated funding stream, and to provide money for programs that benefit victims of domestic abuse, stalking and sexual assault,” Torrico said.