A Tag Team with the Ministry of Justice

G4S is the worlds largest provider of electronic monitoring services monitoring the movements of over 40,000 offenders across the world every day

Electronic Monitoring has in recent years become a way for the criminal justice system to provide an alternative to custody in prison. It means offenders are monitored whilst carrying out community sentences, on bail pending a court hearing, or who have been released from prison and are therefore subject to special conditions.

In the UK the Government rolled out electronic monitoring or “tagging” in 1999, and G4S worked closely with the Government on this. G4S now monitor around 12,000 people in the UK but “tagging” is not just about punishment and controlling of offenders.

The University of Leeds, UK carried out independent research which confirmed that 68% of people monitored electronically intended to stop offending, more than 40% had reduced their alcohol consumption or drug use; and personal relationships had improved as the offenders were spending more time in the home or family environment.

In addition electronic monitoring gives far greater benefits to the taxpayer with curfew costs being one fifth of the cost of a prison term in the UK for the same period.

In 2008, the skill, expertise and capability of G4S meant that G4S officers were seconded to the Integrated Offender Management Units of Lancashire and West Yorkshire Police in the UK. These units are a multi-agency approach to manage known and problematic offenders. The result was that the G4S team has real time access to individual offenders’ monitoring information including records of visits and telephone calls, so together with data from the police provide intelligence which the police can use not just to catch and convict but to prevent and deter offending altogether.

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