Discuss how electronic monitoring is used in intermediate sanctions. What is the difference between passive and active monitoring systems?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Perhaps the most widely used but least understood intermediate sanction is electronic monitoring. Electronic monitoring includes the use of any mechanism that is worn by the offender for the means of tracking his or her whereabouts through electronic detection. Electronic monitoring includes both active and passive monitoring systems. With both types of electronic monitoring devices, offenders are required to wear an ankle bracelet with a tracking device. The active system types are used in conjunction with the local telephone line. At random times throughout the day, the offender’s home phone will ring, and the offender has a certain amount of time to answer. Once the offender answers the phone, a signal is transmitted via the tracking device, which validates that the offender is at home. With the passive system, the ankle bracelet transmits a continuous signal to a nearby transmitter, which transmits the signal to a monitoring computer. With each type, the supervising officer is sent a readout each morning of the offender’s compliance. If an offender attempts to alter the connection, most devices have alarms that will sound and send an immediate message to the monitor. It is also not uncommon for an offender to be at home, not having tampered with the ankle bracelet, and yet it appears that he or she is noncompliant. Of the two electronic monitoring types, the active system has the lower rate of false alarms. Even though the passive system has the higher rate of false alarms, it is the fastest in determining noncompliance because it assesses the offender’s whereabouts much more quickly. Those in favor of electronic monitoring base their argument on the ability of the system to increase public safety due to the knowledge of the whereabouts of each offender. Simply knowing they are being personally tracked may deter offenders from committing crime. Proponents also argue that electronic monitoring provides the least punitive alternative to incarceration, as it allows for offenders to be supervised in the community. Undoubtedly, electronic monitoring is a fiscally feasible intermediate sanction in terms of saving money while diverting offenders from incarceration.