A bill to protect the public from criminals who try to evade supervision by tampering with electronic monitoring devices, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Ritchie (R-Heuvelton), has been approved by the Senate.

The bill, S2305, would make it a new crime if someone tampers, damages, or alters court-ordered electronic monitoring equipment in an attempt to interfere with any signal, impulse, or data, said a press release from Ritchie, who represents the western half of St. Lawrence County including Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur.

“As recent cases have shown, electronic monitoring devices—which are meant to help law enforcement keep an eye on suspected or convicted criminals who would otherwise be behind bars—are far from fool-proof,” Ritchie said after passage in the Senate Wednesday. “By passing this bill and making tampering with electronic monitoring devices a crime, we’re not only helping to deter further criminal activity, we’re also providing an additional level of protection that will help to keep communities across our state safer.”

The purpose of the electronic monitoring equipment is to assist in the tracking and monitoring of an individual who has been convicted of a crime or is awaiting trial when they are released into the general public. Tampering with the electronic monitoring equipment can making monitoring ineffective.

To bolster her argument, Ritchie gave the example of a man awaiting trial in in Onondaga County on child pornography charges in 2013 who removed his ankle monitor and murdered a woman and raped a 10-year-old girl. He reportedly tampered with the device as many as 46 times, removing and reassembling the bracelet with duct tape.

By making the tampering or damaging of electronic monitoring equipment a crime, Ritchie’s statement says, the bill gives law enforcement a new tool to investigate and charge criminals with this behavior and would help prevent potential crimes committed once the individual evades police supervision.

The bill has been sent to the Assembly.