Posts Tagged ‘alternatives to incarceration’

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Michigan House approve GPS for pretrial defendants

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

Michigan’s House of Representatives recently passed HB 4197 making it possible for the state to use GPS monitoring technology on a new group of defendants. The legislation passed in Lansing would allow judges to consider electronic monitoring for all individuals awaiting trial for an assault charge. Currently, the only option in such cases is keeping defendants in jail until their trial date. The state currently allows electronic monitoring for those awaiting trial for domestic violence charges.

This piece of legislation is ready for a third reading by the Senate and must be signed by the Governor before it can go into effect. In addition, Michigan’s leaders need to develop precise guidelines to determine who is eligible for GPS monitoring instead of incarceration. If the bill can overcome these obstacles, it will provide a useful tool that will benefit the state’s justice system.

If made available, GPS monitoring would make it possible for an individual awaiting trial to continue his/her life while waiting for his/her case to go to trial.  In some cases, this technology makes the difference between a defendant continue working and providing for the family and losing his/her job because he/she is held in jail.  The real-time supervision made possible by GPS monitoring helps maintain a high level of community safety while keeping the defendant accountable for his/her movements.

There are many aspects to successfully maintaining community safety.  Providing security while preserving the rights of all individuals is a challenging task. It is a task that requires agencies to use every possible tool.  GPS monitoring technology is an effective tool that can assist agencies with meeting many of their responsibilities, which includes public safety and offender accountability.

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Evidence shows GPS monitoring technology is a reliable tool

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

Previously in this space, I focused on the legislative changes which will bring more GPS monitoring to the state of Georgia. Those changes were documented as part of a study on national corrections reform completed in 2011 and 2012 by The Sentencing Project.

The discussion of increased GPS monitoring in Wisconsin has brought to light some questions about the reliability of GPS as a tool for monitoring offenders. I would like to address those questions.

Legislators in Madison are discussing a new budget which would provide funds for the electronic monitoring of all individuals under a restraining order due to incidents of domestic violence. Wisconsin currently uses GPS technology on some, but not all, domestic violence offenders. However, the new budget would greatly increase their reliance on it.

The GPS discussion in Wisconsin has included evidence the technology has failed. The ability of GPS to consistently deliver accurate information in a timely manner has been questioned. Further, false alerts from GPS monitoring equipment have been blamed for unnecessarily sending individuals back to jail, even though they had not done anything wrong.

It is difficult to hear about these shortcomings, as they undoubtedly put a community’s safety and numerous individuals’ rights at risk. Yet, there is still plenty of evidence to support the over-all effectiveness of GPS monitoring as a tool for law enforcement officials in various jurisdictions.

For example, a study completed in California in 2012 found GPS monitoring in that state led to a greater level of compliance from those under supervision. In addition, the study found less recidivism amongst individuals being monitored by GPS when compared to those being supervised in more traditional ways.

This study also pointed out several positives of GPS monitoring. First it gives flexibility by providing a viable alternative to incarceration. Further, the information provided to agencies by GPS technology is invaluable. This real-time data assists agents in controlling offenders under supervision. In addition, the GPS monitoring information is often admissible in court in the event an offender commits a crime.

Another study completed in Florida in 2010 found electronic monitoring meets the goals of the agencies using it in that state. This report indicated the risk of an offender failing was reduced by 31 percent when he was electronically monitored. This benefit was seen among offenders of all age groups.

GPS monitoring technology is currently getting some negative attention in Wisconsin. However, published reports show it is still an effective and reliable tool to use in the monitoring of offenders. As evidenced by many government agencies, the quality of the device is vital to the success of the program. Since STOP has the most proven one-piece device available, we are always ready to show agencies what a difference we provide.

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Georgia changed sentencing options

Friday, April 5th, 2013

After reading the nationwide sentencing revisions documented in a recent here conducted by The Sentencing Project, I want to highlight the changes made in the state of Georgia last year.

In 2012, legislators sought to reduce recidivism and voted to allow Georgia courts to consider electronically monitored probation as a sanction. This sanction is an alternative to prison for eligible candidates. By allowing the use of GPS monitoring the state provides a useful option for supervising offenders in the communities.

The Sentencing Project study reports on criminal justice revisions taking place in many states over the last two years. While the reforms took on various forms, the goal for all of them was to reduce prison populations while maintaining public safety.

Among the reforms touched on in the study:

  • Reduced mandatory minimums – Several states revised the required penalties for certain offenses.
  • Parole and Probation revocation reforms – Several states expanded the use of earned time for eligible individuals.
  • Juvenile Life Without Parole – Three states authorized relief for some individuals sentenced to life without parole as juveniles.

Substantial research has shown long prison sentences do little to reduce crime and recidivism. So, any effort to reduce the length of sentences is a promising step.

Despite the benefits, a shortened time in prison or jail doesn’t mean releasing parolees and probationers into the community without appropriate supervision and access to needed resources. GPS and RF monitoring equipment and services provide supervising agencies and their staff members additional tools to effectively help their caseloads remain compliant with the terms of their supervision.

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GPS technology is extremely effective when agencies respond appropriately

Monday, March 4th, 2013

A recent story published in the L.A. Times newspaper highlights the increase in the number of arrest warrants issued since October 2011 due to parolees removing their GPS monitoring device. The story states it’s easy for a parolee to cut off the device, but doing so triggers a notification to the supervising agent.

I feel the need to address this situation and provide more background on the straps used on GPS monitoring devices. I’ll start with our BLUtag device.

BLUtag

BLUtag and its strap

BLUtag, the most advanced, proven and reliable GPS monitoring device in the industry, is used throughout the state of California by many government agencies. It has monitored, tracked and reported the movements and violations of more sex offenders, gang members, high-profile offenders and repeat offenders than any other GPS device in the industry. Using this device allows these agencies to take immediate action when enrollees violate the terms of their supervision, including removing the device.

Supervising agents usually take immediate action when they receive a tamper notification. However, ambiguity in California laws regarding offender custody has impacted the ability of agencies to maintain the appropriate consequence for various types of violations.

No technology available today can prevent parolees, or any offender, from removing their monitoring device (GPS or RF) or committing other violations. The important functionality is for the device to immediately notify supervising agents to the violation so the required action can be taken.

BLUtag’s hypoallergenic, thermoplastic rubber strap securely keeps the device fastened around the enrollee’s ankle at all times. If an enrollee removes BLUtag, the device immediately reports the tamper event, so the assigned supervising agent can take the action required by the agency and the law.

Options

One manufacturer makes a strap for a GPS monitoring device marketed as “more secure,” which means it’s embedded with stainless steel cables or a strip of steel. Yes, the offender can’t remove the device with standard medical scissors, but neither can medical personnel for medical emergencies or law enforcement officers when booking offenders into jail for a violation.

Removing this device requires tools, which aren’t usually immediately available in emergency situations. If the offender experiences a medical emergency and loses a foot or part of the leg simply because medical personnel couldn’t quickly remove the monitoring device, the agency is at risk for a lawsuit.

Additionally, the “more secure” strap has been known to be removed where it inserts into the device or it breaks off at the same point. This certainly creates a question about its level of security. This type of strap doesn’t comply with the proposed National Institutes of Justice standards for Offender Tracking Systems.

Many solicitations specifically state the strap can’t be embedded with steel cables or straps. The industry (supervising agencies and vendors/manufacturers) recognizes the critical need for a strap that securely fastens the monitoring device around the offender’s ankle. But the strap can’t impair the ability of either medical or law enforcement personnel from removing it, especially in an emergency situation.

And I question whatever additional security it may provide. An offender can still remove the device with a steel-embedded strap – and it doesn’t matter to the offender if removing the device takes a few more seconds or a few more minutes. STOP has looked at adding a strap with embedded steel to our options, but ensuring that our device works as designed outweighs this option.

Current situation

The result of the situation described in the L.A. Times news story is appropriate consequences can’t be applied to the deserving offenders due to a lack of clear law. GPS is a tool, and an extremely effective one when properly utilized. The article has more to do with need to change the law in order to have proper consequences for parolees violating the terms of their supervision.

The government agencies using our device are successful with other options for handling the removal of a device and maintaining public safety as well.

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GPS technology isn’t just for enrollees considered “high risk”

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

GPS monitoring equipment is a viable supervision tool for enrollees with any risk level, which is demonstrated in a recent incident involving a juvenile in Marion County, Indiana. Even though the juvenile suspected of participating in a two-county crime spree was on electronic monitoring, it was RF technology. It is designed to report only when an enrollee is home and when he/she leaves. Marion County has four GPS monitoring devices that are reserved for juveniles classified as “high risk.”

So, here’s a juvenile not classified as “high risk,” yet he’s a suspect in fives crimes committed in two counties. Based on his curfew schedule, he left home on time in the morning. This didn’t generate any kind of notification because he was complying with his supervision requirements. However, what the juvenile’s probation officer didn’t know until much later was the juvenile never arrived at a school and became a suspect in several crimes.

Generally when enrollees are placed on RF monitoring, the supervising agent must drive around the jurisdiction at various times of the day and night with a mobile monitoring unit to confirm the enrollee is at the location he’s required to be at that time, such as school, work or home.

As the news story points out, staffing shortages hamper the Marion County Juvenile Probation Department’s ability to keep tabs on juveniles 24 hours a day. Additionally, the story points out some juveniles think nothing will happen if they violate their supervision requirements because they’re not monitored all day every day.

BLUtag GPS Monitoring Device

GPS monitoring devices track the movements of subjects on a 24/7 basis and can help keep enrollees stay compliant with their supervision requirements. If they aren’t compliant, these devices immediately notify supervising agents through email or text message.

In addition to tracking an enrollee’s movements, GPS technology allows an agency to identify specific areas where the enrollee must be, such as school or work, and places he must avoid, such as parks or shopping malls, during certain hours of the day.

Understandably, supervising agencies need cost-effective ways to increase the accountability of enrollees. The around-the-clock tracking capability of GPS devices provides a way for agencies to use its resources wisely and maintain community safety.

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GPS technology continues to be a valuable tool for supervising agencies

Monday, February 18th, 2013

A recent news story in the Washington Post reports less than 10 percent of the 1,351 defendants released from custody into the DC Pretrial Services Agency’s GPS monitoring program in 2012 were charged with new a crime. The story notes in 2012 at least 11 pretrial defendants were charged with violent crimes while awaiting trial.

It is always disturbing when a crime is committed, especially a violent one. However, the crucial role GPS monitoring devices play in effectively supervising enrollees in the community cannot be negated by infractions like the ones described in Washington Post story. The need for using GPS technology to monitor, supervise and track the movements of various populations, such as pretrial defendants, gang members, sex offenders, etc., continues due to the realities of our criminal justice system.

Facing crowded jails and back-logged court dockets, judges, prosecutors and other court officials often face difficult decisions when determining if a defendant can be back on the street until his/her trial date. GPS provides a viable option ‑ the best one short of continued incarceration or 24/7 shadowing by a law enforcement official ‑ when it comes to monitoring a defendant’s whereabouts.

In addition, on the rare occasions an enrollee a GPS monitoring program does commit a new crime, the tracking system provides law enforcement officials with vital information about the enrollee’s location around the time of the crime. Most importantly, GPS data has and continues to lead officials to an enrollee’s location and provides court-admissible evidence of where the enrollee travelled before, during and after the crime in question.

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California study: low repeat offense rate for those under supervision

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

The assumption that most arrests involve people who are on parole or probation is unfounded according to an extensive study recently completed in the state of California. The study, conducted in four cities by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, found “approximately one in five arrests involved an individual under probation or parole supervision; the majority of arrests involved people who were not under supervision.”

The study, the first of its kind, focused on more than 2.5 million adult arrest, probation supervision and parole supervision records from Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and Redlands between January 1, 2008 and June 30, 2011, which is shortly before California’s Prison Realignment legislation went into effect. The study provides valuable baseline information to use in gauging the future effectiveness of the realignment, which moved the supervision of California’s parolees into the counties’ hands from the state.

While the over-all results of the study indicate those on parole and probation are not likely to be arrested, there is one type of arrest to which they are disproportionately susceptible. More than one-third of drug arrests analyzed in the study involved people on parole and probation. One theory posited for this discrepancy is those individuals on parole and probation are more likely to suffer from mental illness and/or drug dependency issues. The researchers propose an increase in mental health and drug addiction services for those under supervision may be an appropriate response to this finding.

The study concludes the most effective way to reduce crime is to focus on the 80 percent of the population not under supervision. In addition, the researchers advise augmenting these efforts by better targeting the small portion of the parole and probation population who are disproportionately breaking laws, especially drug-related ones.

Obviously, more research is needed, particularly in California with the implementation of the Realignment legislation. However, this study, which happened with extensive cooperation between the police chiefs of all four cities and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, provides a good starting point for discussing many aspects of community supervision. Among those areas needing more discussion include how electronic monitoring can improve collaboration between parole, probation and law enforcement agencies. Hopefully states, counties and cities across the nation will take these results and not just talk about the issues, but work diligently toward solutions.

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Finally, a new outcomes study released

Friday, July 13th, 2012

It’s been years since a significant study of the efficacy of GPS on reducing recidivism and increasing compliance was completed and released. The original large-scale study was released in the mid-2000’s and nothing had been completed until recently. On March 31, 2012, Development Services Group, Inc. released a 100-page report on “Monitoring High-Risk Sex Offenders with GPS Technology: An Evaluation of the California Supervision Program.” This report was prepared through a grant from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

Although I found it an interesting read, to cut to the chase, the study showed, although slightly more expensive than traditional supervision, GPS monitoring improved program compliance and reduced recidivism when compared to the control group.

Important points of the report include the size of the study and the approach the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) takes to supervise parolees in the community. The Department provides an intensive supervision model few agencies employ, with lower case loads, available treatment programs and progressive sanctions.

I suggest you take some time to read this report and see how STOP can help you put together a program as successful as CDCR’s. The study can be found at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238481.pdf.

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Handling inquiries from news reporters and others

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Today’s post is penned by a guest blogger, Dennis Doffing, National Sales Manager for Service Providers, at Satellite Tracking of People. He has posted on using VeriTracks for evidence-based practices in the past. I appreciate his willingness to share his knowledge with the readers.

I’m happy to get another opportunity to be a “Guest Utterer” on Greg’s Blog. Remember the old joke you know it will be a bad day when you arrive at work and a 60 Minutes crew is waiting in the lobby? Well, running an EM program means at some point you or your agency will come to the attention of news reporters, local and otherwise. Preparation by having some guidelines in place NOW will be a great help when reporters call about an incident.

Check what your agency may already have in place to handle requests from news reporters. Most agencies have a designated media relations department or public information professional. Take time to get to know these people or the individual professional and help them understand the mission of the program and the tools used to help keep enrollees accountable and change their behavior. Also explain how the program and its available tools help maintain a high level of public safety. Give them a list of contact people, including phone numbers and email addresses for inquiries received after hours or on weekends/holidays. Make sure you update the list of contact people when needed, such as changes in responsibilities, new hires or new phone/email information.

The media relations department or public information professional can likely provide training to you and/or your staff for talking to reporters. Prior to talking to a reporter, know what information can be released and adhere to the privacy laws in your jurisdiction. Privacy laws differ by state but most have information classified as public, private and confidential. For example, names of enrollees may be public due to open court information (not so with most juvenile cases), but addresses, schedules and victim information is likely classified as private or confidential.

Other ideas and considerations include:

  • Have a media packet available for reporters, which provides good background information. This usually consists of general program information, sample forms, equipment brochure, program statistics, general profile of the type of individual enrolled in the program, reports documenting evidence-based practices, industry standards and the like. If your agency publishes an annual report, include it in the information packet.
  • Gather relevant information, reports and data on a situation as soon as possible. Also, discuss with staff members and others the need to route all media requests to the agency’s media relations department or public information professional. Reporters already know to start there, but they also want the opportunity for exclusive information and/or interviews, so they may contact you or others in your agency directly.
  • Provide a timely response to a reporter’s request. Even though all reporters work on strict deadlines, it’s okay to take time to research an answer to a question. But don’t avoid reporters and their questions. Doing so can only make you and/or agency look bad to the reading/viewing public or cause the reporter to escalate his/her request to the agency’s administration or a legal subpoena.
  • Generate a simple media response policy if your agency doesn’t already have one. It can be as straightforward as the agency doesn’t comment on personnel issues or doesn’t comment on pending violation investigations. Whatever the policy, make sure your staff knows it and strictly adheres to it.
  • When speaking to reporters, be aware of sound bites. You may answer a question with a long narrative response, but what airs in the TV report or is published in the newspaper or a web site is a very small portion of that answer. It’s the portion of your response the reporter deems to be the most relevant or news worthy to the overall story. Work the theme into your response whenever possible. This takes practice and the media relations department or public information professional can help you develop sound-bite friendly responses through training.
  • Get to know local reporters when not in the midst of a situation. Media outlets remain hungry for news and information, especially since many of them are looking to fill 24 hours of programming every day. Work with the media relations department or public information professional to proactively pitch stories to the reporter(s) covering criminal justice issues in your jurisdiction. It could be a possible story on the positive impact your program is having on enrollees, their family and the community; key points from a report highlighting positive statistics or dollar savings to taxpayers.

This is only a brief overview on some ideas related to reporter interactions. It’s important to know who in your agency is the go-to person for inquiries from news reporters and how to respond to questions from reporters. Preparation is key and will serve you well during times of stress.

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2011 will soon be over, welcome 2012!

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

2011 was a difficult year for most government agencies. Budgets were cut, long term employees were offered early retirement and released offenders struggled to find jobs making many resort to crime again.

However, there was some good news in 2011. Many correctional and supervision agencies were forced to rethink how they handle their huge prison populations. Most polls indicate citizens are tired of huge correctional budgets and cutting education funding to pay to incarcerate so many people. There is a mindset shift to finally deal with those offenders whom we are simply “mad at” in a different way than those whom we are “scare of.”

We should continue to have strong laws protecting us from those offenders who would make it hard to relax in our community or sleep at night if they were roaming the streets. However, it’s time to recognize some offenders can be punished for their crime yet be rehabilitated and pay restitution to the victim or court and maintain or strengthen family connections. 

At STOP, we’ve been fortunate to help many agencies as they’ve shifted their handling of offender populations. Many now use GPS as the effective supervision tool on all ranges of offenders. And when Automated Crime Scene Correlation is used, agencies have the most effective supervision tool available.

STOP added more than 100 agencies as new customers in 2011. These programs range from five-unit programs that had never used GPS or RF before to 1,500-unit programs using other electronic monitoring equipment. This was an amazing year and a test for our outstanding team members. I’m happy to say I’d give them all an A (even without a curve).

2012 will be another great year for STOP. We’re positioned to expand our portfolio of equipment, reimagine our software interface and add features and options not available in the industry today.

On behalf of STOP, I wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

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