Electronic Monitoring Q&A
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about electronic monitoiring ot tagging that our customers and subjects ask us. If you have a question that is not answered here please contact us.
Who does the Electronic Monitoring?
What is Electronic Tagging?
How does the equipment work?
Is the equipment reliable?
What happens at our Control Centre?
When do we install the equipment?
When can a subject be breached?
Who is responsible for breach action?
What are the benefits of tagging?
What is Tracking?
What is Voice Verification?
Who does the Electronic Monitoring?
Private companies provide electronic monitoring in the UK. G4S Care and Justice Services currently monitors within three contact areas, the North East and North West, the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and the South East and South West. Richard Morris is the Director – Electronic Monitoring and is responsible for managing the contract with the Ministry of Justice.
What is Electronic Tagging?
Tagging is used to ensure compliance with curfews and is used throughout the criminal justice system on both Adult and Juvenile subjects – as part of bail conditions, as requirements in community order or as conditions of release from prison.
How does the equipment work?
The equipment consists of a tag and a monitoring unit and is based on a Radio Frequency technology. The tag is fitted to the subject’s ankle and the monitoring unit is located in the home or other place of curfew. The tag sends signals to the home monitoring unit which in turn sends signals to the Control Centre.
Is the equipment reliable?
The technology used in tagging has been proven to be robust and reliable. All equipment has been thoroughly tested and is constantly updated to take advantage of the latest technology. Tamper mechanisms mean that the offender cannot remove the tag or move the monitoring unit without this being reported to the Control Centre.
What happens at our Control Centre?
All movements in and out of the home, any tampering or removal of the equipment are reported to the Control Centre. This report informs monitoring staff at the Control Centre exactly what has happened, for example if the subject has left home during curfew, both the time of leaving and the time the subject returns home will be reported. Our Control Centre operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure that any breaches are immediately dealt with.
When do we install the equipment?
Once we receive notification from a Court or Prison we will visit that evening to install the equipment. Our monitoring officers will visit the address given within the curfew hours. The subject must be present for the installation to be completed. Once our monitoring officers have confirmation of the subject’s identity they will then fit the Personal Identification Device (PID) or tag around the subject’s ankle. The monitoring unit will then be located within the property and the range set to cover the whole house. This does not include the garden.
When can a subject be breached?
The subject can be breached for leaving home during curfew or missing a full curfew. They can also be breached for not being present for the installation of the equipment or for tampering with the equipment.
Who is responsible for breach action?
We are responsible for monitoring the curfew and informing the appropriate agency of any breaches. In the case of Home Detention Curfews where someone has been released early from prison, any breaches are reported to Post Release Section of the Ministry of Justice. They will then decide what action, if any, to take including recalling the subject to prison.
A curfew may be imposed as part of a set of community requirements such as unpaid work. In this case the subject’s Offender Manager, who can be the subject’s Probation Officer or YOT Worker, is responsible for breach action. All breaches are reported to the Offender Manager who will again take action.
In bail cases we report all time violations to the police and it is they who take action and return a subject to court.
We only have responsibility for breach action when a curfew is the only requirement. In this case the order is Court imposed and if breach action is necessary then we will take the matter back to the relevant Court for a decision to be made.
What are the benefits of Tagging?
- Effective means of disrupting offending patterns.
- A cost-efficient option to a custodial sentence.
- Offers flexibility to adapt curfews to the requirements of individual offender management programmes.
- Offenders get to spend more time with their families which in many cases has positive outcomes.
- Increases public protection from offenders released back into the Community and gives a level of protection to victims of crime for specific offenders.
- Has shown to have a positive impact on offender behaviour whilst enabling offenders to maintain or seek employment with educational studies.
What is Tracking?
Satellite tracking enables the Control Centre to monitor and record the location of the offender to within a few metres using satellite GPS technology backed up by mobile telephone technology. Currently it is not available in the UK.
What is Voice Verification?
We take a sample of the offender’s voice print. We then make random or scheduled telephone calls to the offender at a specific location. These calls enable us to confirm both their identity and their actual location by matching the voice print over digital or analogue telephones.