Electronic Monitoring
Definition
The use of radio-frequency ankle tags or GPS tracking devices to enforce curfews or geographic exclusion zones as a condition of bail, a community sentence, or early release from prison. Allows supervision without incarceration.
- Devices used
- RF ankle tags, GPS trackers
- Enforces
- Curfews, exclusion zones
- Applied at
- Bail, community sentence, early release
- Purpose
- Supervision without incarceration
Common questions
How does electronic monitoring data get used as evidence in later proceedings?+
Location and compliance logs from the tag or tracker can be produced as a record showing whether the person was present at or absent from a permitted location at a given time, which can support or refute an alibi or establish a breach of the conditions.
What is the practical difference between a curfew tag and a GPS exclusion zone tag?+
A basic curfew tag typically only confirms presence or absence at a fixed home address during set hours using a base unit, while a GPS tracking device continuously records location and can flag entry into a defined exclusion zone anywhere, giving broader but more data-intensive monitoring.
Related terms
- Home Detention
- A form of custody or supervision served at a person's residence rather than in a correctional facility, usually monitored electronically.
- Net Widening
- The expansion of formal state control that occurs when a diversionary or community-based measure draws in minor cases that would otherwise have...
- Radio-Frequency (RF) Monitoring
- A monitoring method that confirms only whether a person is within a fixed radius of a home base unit, used mainly to...
- Ankle Bracelet
- The common name for the wearable transmitter unit used in both RF and GPS electronic monitoring programmes.
- Community Sentence
- A non-custodial sentence served in the community, typically combining unpaid work requirements, supervision by a probation officer, or rehabilitative programme attendance. The...
- Curfew Monitoring
- The use of an electronic device to verify that a person remains at a specified address during set hours, commonly enforced with...
- Curfew Order
- A court or supervisory requirement that a person remain at a specified address during set hours, commonly enforced with RF monitoring.
- Diversion Programme
- A scheme that redirects an alleged offender away from formal prosecution, typically for minor or first-time offending, into an alternative process such...
- Drug Court
- A specialist court that diverts substance-dependent offenders from prosecution into supervised treatment, with the judge playing an active monitoring role. Participants who...
- Family Group Conference (FGC)
- A restorative justice model developed in New Zealand under the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989, in which a young...
- GPS Monitoring
- A monitoring method that reports a person's continuous or near-continuous location and can enforce exclusion and inclusion zones anywhere, not only at...
- GPS Tracking
- A monitoring method that reports a person's continuous or near-continuous location and can enforce exclusion and inclusion zones anywhere, not only at...
Explained in these topics
- Alternatives to Custody and Restorative Justice
- Electronic Monitoring as a Crime Prevention Tool (UGC-NET Unit II)Supervision of a person's location or presence using an electronic device, typically worn on the ankle, reporting to a monitoring agency rather than a custodia...
- Electronic Monitoring in Criminal JusticeSupervision of a person's location or presence using an electronic device, typically worn on the ankle, reporting to a monitoring agency rather than a custodia...