Making Community Supervision Safer Through Electronic Monitoring - Interview With George Drake

• NCJ Number: 235943
• Date Published: June 2011
• Author(s): George Drake
• Length: 1 page
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Presentation; Issue Overview; Interview; Conference Material

Annotation

This video and its transcript cover an interview with George Drake of the Corrections Technology Center of Excellence (CTCoE) at the 2011 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Conference regarding CTCoE's efforts to develop a standard that sets minimum requirements for the features of offender electronic monitoring devices.

Abstract

The CTCoE is developing a standard for minimum requirements for offender electronic monitoring devices. The standard will address requirements for the size, weight, and robustness (ability to withstand abuse and shocks) of an electronic-monitoring device. Another concern is resistance to circumvention, i.e., efforts by the wearer or others to incapacitate the device's tracking ability. The CTCoE has surveyed agencies and practitioners to determine the types of techniques offenders have used to circumvent the monitor's ability to track the wearer's movements and locations, so as to incorporate appropriate safeguards into the standard. The ability of a device to withstand the effects of climate and temperature extremes is another concern of the standard. Software that accompanies a device is another issue to be covered by the standard, which will facilitate the efficiency and data collection of an electronic monitoring program. Manufacturers' compliance with the standard for electronic monitoring devices is voluntary. Compliance will be encouraged if purchasing agencies specify in their proposals that the devices must be certified under National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standards.