The Pros And Cons Of Electronic Monitoring

Electronic monitoring “ in most cases, U.S. probation and pretrial services officers use electronic monitoring in supervising people placed under home confinement (Uscourts, Home Confinement , pg 2)”. The person “wears a tamper resistant transmitter on the ankle or wrist 24 hours a day and the person must stay within 150 feet of the receiving unit to be considered in range (Uscourts, Home Confinement, pg2)”. Key events that might happen which would break the

Pre-Trial Release Programs lets individuals be released prior to trial with conditions. Some of these conditions are that you have to pay cash, wear an ankle bracelet while being on house arrest, be alcohol/drug tested, or even be watched/monitored. Pretrial release programs can be denied for capital offenses. The law allows release on personal recognizance of an unsecured appearance bond. “Common conditions: commercial surety, cash deposit, property bond, other secured bonds, supervision and additional requirements”. (http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/pretrial-release-conditions.aspx) Electronic monitoring is authorized for any defendant eligible for release. A minimum of 500 dollars bond is required for failure to appear while on pretrial release.

Corrections are an important part of the criminal justice system and they work in concert with law enforcement and the courts. Citizens in the United States expect criminals to be monitored, with some in secured facilities, so they will not fear of becoming continual victim of crime. To illustrate this expectation further, there are 2.5 million individuals on probation or parole and 1 million individuals in jails or prisons (Morris & Tonry, 2013, p. 370). However, does every individual confined in jails and prisons still need to be there or is there a better way to deal with certain special prison populations? Due to the large number of prisoners within the correctional system, certain special populations of inmates do not receive the rehabilitation or care needed to successfully reintegrate back into society. Additionally, these special populations create an undue burden on the correctional system in terms of financial costs associated with their confinement. There are changes that can be made to the criminal justice system to accommodate special populations of inmates. This paper will explore the alternative

I am doing this paper on electronic monitoring. I am doing this paper because I need a paper to write for you and this is the page I opened to in the book to get the idea. No, really because I believe that electronic monitoring is a terrific way to police probation and parolees when probation and parole officers are so severely overworked. By not having to check in on the offenders as much, because at any time we can hit a button and know exactly where they are, or be notified instantly when they are somewhere they shouldn’t be, it would be a lot easier on probation and parole officers.

Improvements in technology has allowed many individuals to thrive and connect with the world. In some cases, it is utilized as a tool to track and map events, occurrences, and even individuals. One type of technology that is commonly used today among law enforcement is the global positioning system also known as GPS. Using GPS monitoring is an important tool that correction officers use for individuals that are either on parole or house arrest. The tracking device is essential to not only maintaining the location of the certain people in question, but it also assists in monitoring the behavior and social interactions of the offender(s) on a daily basis. Electronic monitoring is an alternative form of punishment instead of going to jail.

Each day in the United States, the correctional system supervises over six million of its residents. Approximately two million people are in prison or jail, while four million are on probation or parole. Thus, making the United States having the largest prison population in the world. In 1972, 161 U.S. residents were incarcerated in prisons and jails per 100,000. By 2012 that number had nearly quintupled to 707 per 100,000. The jail and prison population had grown to about 2.23 million people, yielding a rate of incarceration that was by far the highest in the world. We have determined as a society and as a country that the incarceration, supervision and the specific fines for a particular crime are that person’s debt to society. Most people

I agree Rashaun. The amount of technology that is popping up can sure improve security in jails or in prisons. The problem is all of that cost money that not every state can afford. A couple of the technological advancements are the WANDD, PharmaJet and RFID’s. The WANDD is referred to as the Weapons and Non-permitted Devices Detector. It basically detects hidden weapons in prisoners. The best part is it detects metal including non-metal. This is extremely useful because it can avoid a tragedy such as death or harm on another inmate or a correction officer. The PharmaJet is fascinating because it can medicate an inmate that is sick and it’s needleless, which is a safer way to approach in prison or in jail. RFID is referred to as Radio-Frequency Identification. This could be used to track the inmate’s location, which makes escape even harder than it already was. Correctional staff can’t keep track the movement of every inmate all day long. People freak out when they hear the word RFID sometimes, thinking it’s some device inside your skin, but they generally use bracelets. Back in the day, they would have to log each inmate manually, which wasted a lot of time. Now with the help of RFID’s, the correctional staff can track, measure and store the movement of the inmate’s, that gets compiled into data base. This is not only saving time, but it is saving

(Pierce-Danfords, & Guevara, 2013, p.5) There are two major function that the pretrial programs perform. (Mahoney, Beaudin, Carver, Ryan, & Hoffman, 2001, p.1) The first function is to “gather and present information” about the incoming defendants and the “available release options” for the judicial officer to use in order to decide the conditions that will be imposed to the defendant. (Id) The second function of the program is to supervised the defendant while in “the pretrial period by mentoring their compliance with release conditions and to ensure they appear for scheduled court events.” (Id) Majority of the information gather will be obtain from the defendant and must be verified otherwise it will be label as unverified the report to the court. (Id) The defendant information includes identity, community ties, physical and mental conditions criminal record, and prior record of compliance with conditions of release. (Id) A pretrial risk assessment will place the defendants into categories of prediction for an “arrest on a new charge or failure to appear in court. (Pierce-Danfords, & Guevara, 2013,

Technology is the persistent application of information in the design, production and use of goods and services, and in the organization of human activities. Criminal Justice is the system of law enforcement, involving police, lawyers, courts, and corrections, used for all phases of criminal procedures and penalty. As technology is used in the organization of human activities and criminal justice deals with the criminal aspects of humans it constantly unites these two things. As technology advances, so will it is use in the field of criminal justice. These advancements are necessary to help keep up with the growing and evolving world, but it is also necessary to make sure that this type of technology does not begin to infringe on a person’s individual civil liberties.

They are allowed to go to work and participate in other selected activities, but their location is known at all times. The device will also alert authorities if it is tampered with; so you cannot simply remove it (Internet). The idea of electronic monitors to track the location of prisoners first arose in the 1960's when Dr. Ralph Schwitzgebel researched, developed, and tested a device capable of doing so. These devices constantly transmit over the telephone or over radio waves (McCarthy 137). Once the prisoner completes his sentence, the device is removed. This seems to be a good idea - it allows someone to be punished but it does not put a halt to their life in general or contribute to the overpopulation of a prison.

Electronic health records (EHR’s) have many advantages, but there are plenty of disadvantages. EHR’s were created to manage the many aspects of healthcare information. Medical professionals use them daily and most would feel lost without it. Healthcare organizations were encouraged to adopt EHR’s in 2009 due to the fact that a bill passed known as The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). “The HITECH Act outlines criteria to achieve “meaningful use” of certified electronic records. These criteria must be met in order for providers to receive financial incentives to promote adoption of EHRs as an integral part of their daily practice”, (Conrad, Hanson, Hasenau & Stocker-Schneider, 2012).

Home confinement is often a resource used by the United States Department of Justice to facilitate supervision of the offender during pretrial and probation (Hofer & Meierhofer, 1987, p 7). It facilitates the pretrial process because it ensures the offender will fulfill his or her responsibility to court because the juvenile’s very movements are being electronically monitored. In addition, it facilitates probation compliance because it requires the offender to remain in his or her abode. However, home confinement is not limited to keeping the offender at home at all times. It is an intensive supervision program that varies in the strictness of supervision depending on the type of offender. This alternative to incarceration can be easily modified to allow juveniles to attend school, go to work, attend recreational or extracurricular activities, etc. Home confinement has three different levels of restrictions: Curfew, home detention and home incarceration. Curfew, obliges offenders to be at their home during specific hours. Home Detention is more severe than curfew. It offers greater control over the offender and it requires

This type of punishment has various approaches, but a common one is the medical model (Reichel, 2013). The medical model views inmates as the patient who is then diagnosed with medical problems, if any (Reichel, 2013). The inmate will go on to receive treatment that fits his or her needs in order to rehabilitate the individual as efficiently and effectively as possible (Reichel, 2013). The types of medical professionals that assist in this process include, “psychologists, social workers, clergy, health workers, educators, and the like, discuss that offender’s needs and develop a treatment plan” (Reichel, 2013, p. 231). Lastly, incapacitation is when an offender is no longer free to roam around (Reichel, 2013). This is why there are sanctions to detain criminals and keeping them off the streets in order to keep society out of danger (Reichel, 2013). Jails and prison are the most common sanctions used for incapacitation, and have been for decades (Reichel, 2013). There have been other forms, such as corporal punishment, but there are new forms taking place (Reichel, 2013). Since the use of technology is increasing and always advancing, the use of “electronic monitoring devices” is going to become another way to prevent offenders from moving (Reichel, 2013, p. 231). Such devices will allow law enforcement to track offenders and

Hey Imara, Great examples for house arrest and electronic monitoring. I didn't know that electronic monitoring is often considered a highly economical alternative to the cost of imprisoning offenders, when considering the fact that most offenders have to pay for the monitoring as part of the sentence. You also bring up good criticisms for electronic monitoring. First being, that offenders who are under house arrest are staying at home and they don't seem to be punished or have a negative experience. Also, that there is an intrusiveness of house arrest that violates a pretrial detainee's constitutional right to privacy in the home, most notably one's that are occupied by other family members who are not under supervision. With social criticism

Technology has become the bedrock for different parts of the correction system. The main force of expenditures and study in the corrections field is for the use of monitoring offenders. Different technologies that allow for better control pf the offenders can save lives and help prevent new crimes from emerging. The point of these technologies is to reduce the chance of recidivism by deterring criminals from behaviors that they may commit if otherwise left to their own devices. “The role of staff in the correctional institutional environment will never be obsolete but the use of technology can enhance and enable staff to perform their jobs more efficiently and in a safer and more secure way.” (Mannix 2) There is also an increase use of