Could GPS bracelets solve our prison overcrowding problem?
Philadelphia district attorney candidate will sport a monitoring bracelet for the month
U.S. prisons have a serious overcrowding problem. It’s gotten so bad in California that a judge ordered the state to set 40,000 inmates free. The Governator is trying to get that ruling overturned by appealing to the Supreme Court.
Over on the East Coast, Philadelphia District Attorney hopeful Michael Untermeyer has a more creative solution:
Untermeyer said Thursday the city could save millions of dollars by moving nonviolent defendants out of the prison system and keeping tabs on them electronically instead.
Untermeyer says it costs $98 a day to keep someone locked up but just $8 a day to monitor them electronically.
via Philly DA hopeful dons monitoring bracelet – National Wire – fresnobee.com .
Untermeyer is totally ‘locked in’ on this issue. He’s wearing the GPS ankle bracelet for the next month and allowing voters to track his movements online. Here are the instructions. I tried to track that scoundrel down but the software at SenTrak Offender Management Solutions doesn’t seem to agree with my computer or that of my colleague.
If Untermeyer wins and goes through with this, I hope he can get SenTrak to improve their software. But should he really go through with this? Would this be a viable — or advisable — solution for overcrowded prisons?
Prisons are supposed to help rehabilitate wrongdoers, to act as a deterrent to would-be criminals, and to keep offenders on lockdown so they can’t cause more trouble. In many states, inmates are released early and put on house arrest with GPS bracelets. The technology has been in use for about a decade, especially in the cases of sex offenders and domestic abusers. Police monitor their whereabouts to make sure they stay away from schools and the homes of their victims.
But what if we replaced jail time with GPS bracelets for all nonviolent offenders? Being tracked 24/7 might be a scarier prospect than being locked in a cell for a few months.
Unfortunately, the technology isn’t perfect yet. Untermeyer’s experiment illustrates software problems. Sometimes, there are problems with the bracelets’ wireless signals as well. Just like our cell phones, the bracelets experience “no service” zones when wearers go underground or into certain buildings.
As soon as they work out the kinks, I’m all for this. Maybe someone could even develop a cool smartphone application tapping into the technology. As you’re walking your city streets, you could check your phone to see how many criminals you’re surrounded by at any given moment. Fun!
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8 PM Sept 8
He has already logged out and can’t be found. I suspect he has connections at town hall and has beaten the system.
Two things. One, in California these ankle devices are already in wide use, mostly for drug offenders placed on house arrest. Two, prisons cannot afford to rehabilitate inmates so they just house them…it is terrible and every expert thinks it dangerous, making prisons into crime colleges.
We need to rethink three strikes or at least remove marijuana as a class one drug and reduce possession nationally to a misdemeanor. Prisons are full as a result of the war on drugs and gangs fighting over drug turf. On the street it is an economic issue and since we don’t spend money on drug detox clinics, addicts remain addicts and have to steal to get releif. And addicts are desperate and careless.
Would we really use the savings from GPS-enabled house arrest on drug treatment programs? Society isn’t even clear if prison is for rehabilitation or just removal from society. If GPS is used as part of a program for rehabilitation of non-violent drug offenders in a residential drug treatment facility, maybe.
In response to another comment. See in context »I just don’t see how an ankle GPS unit keeps drugs away from users, though. Dealers deliver. The real question (here in NY) is the Rockefeller drug laws themselves that crowd our prisons and help sex offenders get out early (who *should* wear GPS units).
[...] Here’s a darn good writer and a darn interesting District Attorney candidate who are getting their heads in the game and trying to demystify the technology and prove what works/doesn’t work. Could GPS bracelets solve our prison overcrowding problem? [...]
INCARCERATING PEOPLE “FOR PROFIT” IS IN A WORD….WRONG!
Even if one does not ask or pretends not to see the rope and the flashing red flag draped around the philosophical question standing solemnly at attention in the middle of the room, it remains apparent that the mere presence of a private “for profit” driven prison business in our country undermines the U.S Constitution and subsequently the credibility of the American criminal justice system. In fact, until all private prisons in America have been abolished and outlawed, “the promise” of fairness and justice at every level of this country’s judicial system will remain unattainable. We must restore the principles and the vacant promise of our judicial system. Our government cannot continue to “job-out” its obligation and neglect its duty to the individuals confined in the correctional and rehabilitation facilities throughout this nation, nor can it ignore the will of the people that it was designed to serve and protect. There is urgent need for the good people of this country to emerge from the shadows of indifference, apathy, cynicism, fear, and those other dark places that we migrate to when we are overwhelmed by frustration and the loss of hope.
My hope is that you will support the National Public Service Council to Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP) with a show of solidarity by signing “The Single Voice Petition”
http://www.petitiononline.com/gufree2/petition.html
Please visit our website for further information: http://www.npsctapp.blogspot.com
–Ahma Daeus
“Practicing Humanity Without A License”…