VANCOUVER — A British Columbia community hopes to take the extraordinary measure of injecting high-risk and prolific offenders with GPS tracking devices in order to curb a crime problem.

City council in Williams Lake has voted unanimously in favour of a motion to support tracking criminals’ movements 24 hours a day by implanting microchips into their arms.

Coun. Scott Nelson says the technology can be purchased from a U.S. company and the city will seek federal and provincial approval to use the device on people designated high-risk or prolific offenders by the RCMP.

Nelson says a recent incident involving a man who stole a teen’s bike at gunpoint in a local park highlights the need for strong action to help his community feel safer.

Williams Lake RCMP Insp. Milo MacDonald says he appreciates the city’s efforts to tackle crime but he’s not aware of any law that would allow officers to use the microchips.

Micheal Vonn of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says the idea is a non-starter that the federal government would never approve it on constitutional grounds.

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