This 2000 report published by the John Howard Society of Alberta Canada, provides a brief and apparently well documented overview of electronic monitoring purposes, history, technology, constitutional issues, costs and effectiveness. It takes a generally dim view on all aspects.
A 2007 report from the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole found no statistical significance in the first year of supervision between treatment and control groups, regarding number of violations and new charges; however, it was found to be useful in containment of offenders. The report recommends continued use of GPS with tiered monitoring, additional staffing and funding, troubleshooting, and further training for maximizing effectiveness.
An unpublished document prepared for the Department of Justice. It is designed to help readers understand and appreciate the process needed to incorporate and implement electronic supervision strategies within justice system programs. The document is divided into five sections, and by reading each of these sequentially, the steps for developing or enhancing electronic supervision strategies will be apparent. However, sections or chapters may be read independently if program staff need additional information about a particular topic. It is intended that after reading this document, justice system professionals will be able to: • Conduct preliminary assessment and planning tasks necessary for developing an electronic supervision program component. • Explore and acquire needed resources for electronic supervision. • Make technical decisions about the equipment and services needed and undertake the procurement process. • Design effective offender supervision strategies using electronic technologies. • Engage in program accountability tasks.
This 234 page book offers a thorough review of electronic monitoring of offenders from the American Probation & Parole Association (APPA). It starts from a premise that technological changes and social changes go hand -in-hand and proceeds to explore how electronic monitoring is changing the field of Community Corrections. The book's stated intention is to provide community corrections agencies with the needed information to aid their decision-making process regarding implementing, adjusting, and maintaining or eliminating an electronic supervision component, but not to provide a complete assessment of each kind of monitoring technology.
A 2007 16 page report to the New Jersey Legislature reviewing results from electronic monitoring of 225 sex offenders. The report concludes that GPS monitoring appears to encourage these high-risk sex offenders to control their behavior, and avoid situations that would inspire new crimes.
This 16 page document: • defines electronic monitoring technology and its uses • discusses law enforcement involvement with electronic monitoring technology • provides examples of electronic monitoring technology • outlines the benefits and concerns of electronic monitoring technology • highlights key considerations for the law enforcement community. It focuses specifically on GPS monitoring systems, as these are the most common type of electronic monitoring technology used for supervising sex offenders
Global Positioning System as a tool for managing sexual offenders has made its way into legislation without empirical support regarding its effectiveness. This article includes a brief description of the science behind the technology, its usefulness and challenges for supervising and managing sexual offenders, and some of the civil rights issues yet to be answered.