NCJ Number
111752
Journal
Offender Monitoring Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: (February-March 1988) Pages: 1,3-4,6-8
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The use of voice verification to monitor the presence of an offender at a particular location shows promise; but at this stage of its development, accurate voice identification is sufficiently problematic to make it most useful as a backup to another monitoring system.
Abstract
The voice verification system randomly calls offenders at home through a central computer. When the phone is answered, the offender is given 30 seconds to come on the line and repeat specified words to be used as a match against the offender's voice print. The advantages of this system are the absence of stigmatizing body attachments and its potential cost savings compared to other systems. Its drawbacks are the nuisance to the offender of calls during sleeping hours and voice distortion due to flawed telephone communications or changes in voice sound due to sleepiness, stress, or alcohol consumption. Only extensive field testing will determine whether these problems are minor nuisances or major obstacles in the system's use. Given the current state of such systems, they are best used as part of hybrid systems, whether as a backstop for a continuous monitoring system or to assure a monitoring agency that alcohol test results are from the intended subject.