Electronic Monitoring System For The Correctional Facilities

Electronic monitoring is another widely used form of surveillance in which an electronic device is attached to an offender's body, warning that person that

According to statistical data found in the Bureau for Justice Records, there are a number of problems that most prisons in the country face. The records indicate that the number of adult federal and state inmates increased from `139% in `1980 to 260% (Walker, 1999). As a natural default, the United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This in itself brings about one of the major problems that are faced in modern incarceration which is overcrowding in most prison facilities. The number of offenders in the country has increased rapidly over time while the country prison system has not really been able to cope with this rapid increase. Prisons intended for one or two inmates are now crowded with more than fifty individuals. Because of this most prisons are overcrowded and most of the facilities available are unable to cater for the needs of all the prisoners (Siegel, 2009).

Punishment has evolved from the days of waiting to be hung to the sophisticated prison systems of today. However prisons in the United States are crowded and costly and they are not always appropriate for all offenders, especially those that have committed minor offenses. In the last couple of decades new methods of punishment has been developed for the minor offender. These fall under the category of intermediate community sanction and consist of electronic monitoring and home confinement. These punishments have proven very useful in dealing with minor offenders, pretrial confinement and others in need of supervision. They seem to be effective and help to transfer some of the cost of prison back to the offender.

The U.S. corrections system, a subdivision of the criminal justice system, continues to undergo change. From its beginnings as laws written in stone, the corrections system has sought to punish offenders. The origin of the corrections system dates back several thousand years and has witnessed various perspectives and goals. The best method of administering punishment to these prisoners has remained an issue of dispute for many years. Events through history, such

At any given time, there are approximately 2 million American citizens incarcerated and nearly 700,000 inmates returning to their communities each year. (Petitt & Western, 2004; Western, 2001). Since most prisoners are eventually released, mass incarceration has in turn produced a steep rise in the number of individuals reentering society and undergoing the process of social and economic reintegration. (Travis, 2005). During the period between 1982 and 2007, the number of Americans incarcerated in jails and prisons increased by 274% (Pew Center on the States, 2009). In addition to the increase of the individuals incarcerated, there is an even larger amount of individuals under community supervision, with a recent study finding that one in every 48 American adults are either on probation or parole on any given day (Glaze & Bonczar, 2011). Recent statistics show that the percentage of parolees re-incarcerated after release currently stands at 32% (Maruschak and Parks, 2012).

In America, crime rates are going up and prisoners are being released from prison with a wrong sense of direction resulting in their finding themselves back behind bars within a short period of time after being released for an action that could have been prevented if the proper precautions had been taken. Prisons need to put forth the effort to resolve these issues and make America’s streets secure again. The criminal justice system in prisons is a rising concern in this country that is affecting many and it is time it was improved by reforming the inside of prisons, providing prisoners with more when released, and keeping them under surveillance after release to help ensure they will not return to prison, thus keeping crime at a lower rate.

Electronic monitoring is a device that allows Justice Officers and officials to ensure an offender is at a certain location when 65 required to be there. The use of the monitoring device is becoming more popular as a way to control and supervise offenders within the community to ensure citizens are safe. In the mid-1960 a Harvard Psychologist Robert Schwitzgebel developed the first electronic monitoring device. The device was intended to provide an inexpensive alternative for offenders than incarceration or within the justice process. Even though the device was patented in 1969 it didn’t start coming into effect until the 1980’s. It’s used by courts to track the location of offenders that are under surveillance or restricted to certain areas.

High incarceration rates in the United States are astronomical. According to Williams (2014), there are more than twenty-four million people incarcerated between the state, federal, juvenile correctional facilities, jails, military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment center and prisons in the U.S. territories. The makes the United States to have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Texas prison system has grown faster than any other state and has been reported that one out of every twenty adults were in the corrections system under one form or another (Texas Tough, n.d.). The problem is that the crime rates do not account for the [prison] rates (Hartney, 2006). Thus, from the overcrowding, there are issues with

As a deputy sheriff working in a courthouse keeping track of inmates is a top priority. With modern technology there should be a system in place to know where inmates are both physically and electronically. Currently inmates are only tracked in the jail by placing a card showing they are out to church, medical, court or for any other reason the inmate is not in their cell. With a growing inmate population this facility will need to update current inmate tracking standards to newer technological driven standards. When inmates are taken to court the current system is to escort these inmates via an underground tunnel to an elevator to take them to the necessary courtroom. The elevator does not have buttons and a deputy needs to call for the

I am doing this paper on electronic monitoring. I am doing this paper because I need a paper to write for you and this is the page I opened to in the book to get the idea. No, really because I believe that electronic monitoring is a terrific way to police probation and parolees when probation and parole officers are so severely overworked. By not having to check in on the offenders as much, because at any time we can hit a button and know exactly where they are, or be notified instantly when they are somewhere they shouldn’t be, it would be a lot easier on probation and parole officers.

This type of punishment has various approaches, but a common one is the medical model (Reichel, 2013). The medical model views inmates as the patient who is then diagnosed with medical problems, if any (Reichel, 2013). The inmate will go on to receive treatment that fits his or her needs in order to rehabilitate the individual as efficiently and effectively as possible (Reichel, 2013). The types of medical professionals that assist in this process include, “psychologists, social workers, clergy, health workers, educators, and the like, discuss that offender’s needs and develop a treatment plan” (Reichel, 2013, p. 231). Lastly, incapacitation is when an offender is no longer free to roam around (Reichel, 2013). This is why there are sanctions to detain criminals and keeping them off the streets in order to keep society out of danger (Reichel, 2013). Jails and prison are the most common sanctions used for incapacitation, and have been for decades (Reichel, 2013). There have been other forms, such as corporal punishment, but there are new forms taking place (Reichel, 2013). Since the use of technology is increasing and always advancing, the use of “electronic monitoring devices” is going to become another way to prevent offenders from moving (Reichel, 2013, p. 231). Such devices will allow law enforcement to track offenders and

People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing crimes. Historically, the frequency of imprisonment, its duration, and severity have varied considerably. There has also been much debate about the motives for incarceration, its effectiveness s and fairness, as well as debate regarding the related questions about the nature and etiology of criminals (Freeman, 2008).

The purpose of the GPS monitoring program enforced by the Division of Adult Correction is to manage the risk assessment of individuals who enter into public society after having been imprisoned. As participants in the Satellite Based Monitoring (SBM) program created under North Carolina General Statutes 14-208.40, each individual is required to continually wear a GPS ankle monitor. The ankle bracelet must be worn twenty-four hours a day for the rest of the wearer’s life. Each day the wearer must connect the bracelet to a charging socket in the wall for a total of six hours everyday.

“The history of correctional thought and practice has been marked by enthusiasm for new approaches, disillusionment with these approaches, and then substitution of yet other tactics”(Clear 59). During the mid 1900s, many changes came about for the system of corrections in America. Once a new idea goes sour, a new one replaces it. Prisons shifted their focus from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation of offenders, then to the reentry into society, and back to incarceration. As times and the needs of the criminal justice system changed, new prison models were organized in hopes of lowering the crime rates in America. The three major models of prisons that were developed were the medical, model, the community model, and the crime

Convicting, sentencing, and imprisoning are just the first few steps of reducing crime. All the effort, time, and money that go into keeping criminals locked up and off the streets are really for nothing in the end if he or she commits the same crime again after release. James Haley, who is the book editor of “Prisons” points out, “Every year, close to six hundred thousand inmates are released from state and federal prisons around the country. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, two-thirds of former convicts commit new crimes and one-half are re-incarcerated within three years of being released from prison” (138). Are US prisons truly effective when so many prisoners are committing new crimes upon release? It is for the better interests of American safety that some prisoners are locked up for life, but this should not include the constant return of re-offenders. The life of most convicts involves committing a crime and being sentenced to jail only to repeat the same process again. Many re-offenders see incarceration as a ticket to a place to sleep and food to eat.