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Province Begins Ankle Bracelet Monitoring for Some Offenders on House Arrest |
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Written by Staff
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Tuesday, 02 May 2006 |
Nova Scotia becomes the first province to implement electronic supervision technology in an effort to track people who have been placed on conditional sentencing and house arrest by the courts.
NS Justice Minister Murray Scott announced today the beginning of a one-year implementation program that will see 25 offenders who have been sentenced to house arrest within the Halifax Regional Municipality outfitted with electronic ankle bracelets and a Global Positioning (GPS) device.
The electronic surveillance will enable police to monitor the exact whereabouts and movements of the offenders 24 hours a day. Conditional sentencing in the form of house arrest in the past has been difficult to supervise and some offenders were able to move about freely because of a lack of regular supervision by the proper authorities.
Deputy chief of Halifax Regional Police Chris McNeil said, "The Electronic Supervision Program is an important innovation to support offenders in the community and should provide a greater deterrent for offenders to breach their conditions or re-offend. Further, it complements our strict enforcement of people on conditional sentences, and only serves to enhance police efforts and provide safer communities in Nova Scotia."
The RCMP also applaud the program and call electronic supervision "a great community safety and crime prevention initiative".
Contracts for equipment and monitoring services have been awarded to Mammoth Inc. of Halifax and iSECUREtrac Corp., of Nebraska. |
