A bill has been advanced this week to the state House aimed at better protecting victims of stalking.  The legislation would include the use of a Global Positioning System, or GPS, into the existing criminal laws on stalking.  Monroe state Representative JP Sredzinski says this isn't for routine use of a GPS device by businesses who keep tabs on deliveries and the like.

The Office of the State's Victim Advocate supports this legislation.

A committee on Tuesday voted nearly unanimously to make the use of a GPS device for stalking a class B misdemeanor punishable by 6 months in jail. 

Sredzinski says that new technology is sometimes being used to  terrify, torment and instill fear in victims who are forced to always look over their shoulder. He hopes that including GPS devices in existing law will will provide victims with some level of comfort.

Current state law says stalking is when a person recklessly causes another to reasonably fear for his or her physical safety by willfully and repeatedly following, or lying in wait for that person.