What are the Key Characteristics of a Successful EM Program?
Key Characteristics of a successful electronic monitoring program are:
- Strong support from stakeholders. Stakeholders include sentencers, police, probation services, prisons, the media, and the general public. It is easily overlooked and it is important to have a high profile 'champion'. Most programs grow much more slowly than policy makers would like, this is often because sentencers are not sufficiently involved which makes them nervous and leads to limited use. Sentencers are a key target group and unless they understand electronic monitoring, the program will fail. It is important to maintain contact with this group throughout the program to reinforce best practices. Aim to cultivate a number of high profile opinion leaders to ensure success.
- Clear goals and objectives. Targets need to be set and the program measured against those targets at set milestones.
- Willingness of participants to comply. Electronic monitoring represents an opportunity for the participant to demonstrate self-control and discipline. They are more likely to comply if they expect the sentence, consider it to be fair, know there will be serious consequences for violations, and that they have the support from family and friends. The induction process by the officer as part of the installation process is also a key element.
- Adequate funding. Technology is often the only element considered. In reality, the people required to administer the program will cost significantly more than the technology. The number of people required depends entirely on the caseload compliance level and the ground rules for defining what is a violation and the appropriate response.
- Adequate resources. For an electronic monitoring program to maintain creditability, there must be appropriate responses to all violations. Electronic monitoring technology provides evidence of curfew and location violations which would otherwise go unnoticed. Violations of this nature require a response. Because of limited resources, some programs have a relaxed approach to curfew transgressions which means that many curfew violations are allowed to pass without a response. This is not good for the reputation of the program.
- Realistic expectations of technology. This applies to GPS tracking in particular. GPS has significant technical and practical limitations. These are often not understood by policy makers and specification writers. The difficulties mount in appreciating the complexities of managing a large caseload of participants on GPS tracking because of the enormous amount of data generated and the expectations that violations can be dealt with in a timely manner. More human capital and resources may be required to manage the caseload and cope with reporting requirements.
- Modern, proven technology. Many suppliers can show technology working in a controlled environment but designing equipment sufficiently robust to cope with the conditions that it will be subjected to over long periods, takes experience. Unreliable equipment will quickly undermine confidence in the program.
