A scheme where offenders voluntarily wear tags in a bid to stop reoffending has been hailed a success.

The trial, which was launched in the West Sussex division in July, has so far been taken up by 20 offenders for up to several months and has lead to a significant drop in reoffending.

The Sussex Police initiative uses the latest technology provided by Buddi which give a much wider coverage than usual tagging systems and allows wearers to live without curfew checks.

Sussex Police say they can use live information of the location of wearers to eliminate them from enquiries into a crime and prevent them being arrested unnecessarily.

Officers said one offender claimed the voluntary tag had prevented him going on a crime spree following an argument with his partner because he knew wearing the tag would mean he would be quickly apprehended.

Toni Pettman, West Sussex integrated offender management manager, said: "The tags put the emphasis onto the offenders to give them a chance to get their life back on trace and face up to the crimes they have committed in the past.

"We have measured previous offenders behaviour against their current behaviour while wearing a tag and it has been a huge decrease in offending and this is being continuously monitored.

“The scheme was piloted in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and they have seen a significant drop in reoffending and we are seeing similar results here.”

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