Sex offender monitoring system supported by Boulder company goes down for 12 hours: Gulp!

Lindsay Lohan blamed at least one positive alcohol reading on glitch in an ankle device tracked by Littleton's Alcohol Monitoring Systems -- something that turned out not to be true. But another Colorado monitoring firm, BI Incorporated, admits to a recent problem earlier this week with a system keeping tabs...

By Michael Roberts

October 7, 2010

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Lindsay Lohan blamed at least one positive alcohol reading on glitch in an ankle device tracked by Littleton's Alcohol Monitoring Systems -- something that turned out not to be true. But another Colorado monitoring firm, BI Incorporated, admits to a recent problem earlier this week with a system keeping tabs on sex offenders.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera, a server problem on Tuesday caused the temporary disabling of a notification system designed to inform staffers about sex offenders being tracked using GPS.

And since BI contracts with around 900 correctional agencies from coast to coast, that's a lot of untracked sex offenders.

The problem was resolved around twelve hours later, and a BI spokesperson interviewed by the Camera stressed that records were being kept throughout this period -- meaning that if anyone went somewhere unapproved, BI will be able to document it.

But only after the fact.

BI is reportedly working on a new system designed to prevent this kind of meltdown in the future. That way, no one will be able to use the Lindsey Lohan excuse and get away with it...

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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