Manitoba finally slapping ankle bracelets on worst car thieves

The Manitoba government is making good on a pledge it made a year ago to track auto thieves with GPS technology, with bracelets being placed on 20 of the most high-risk people.

Justice officials will use the electronic ankle bracelets in an effort to rehabilitate the province's reputation as the car theft capital of Canada.

Thieves considered the highest risk to reoffend will have to wear the high-tech bracelets as a condition of their release from jail, Justice Minister Dave Chomiak said at a news conference Tuesday.

The one-year project, first announced almost a year ago, is part of the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy, and is pegged at a cost of $300,000.

Chomiak told reporters Manitoba has been working with Nova Scotia to emulate its anklet supervision program.

"No single part of the strategy is a panacea," he said.

"Succeeding in the battle against auto theft means tackling it on many different levels."

Not a form of punishment

A government spokeswoman says the plan's implementation was delayed from its initial fall start date due to changes in Nova Scotia's GPS monitoring program.

Justice officials stress the new tool is not a form of punishment, but a way of supporting youth and deterring them from reoffending.

Police say their anti-theft strategy is working.

There has been a 48.6 per cent reduction in attempted thefts and a 45.8 per cent reduction in actual thefts from Jan. 1, 2008, to March 31, 2008, compared to the same period last year, police said.