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Long arm of the law: GPS rapidly replaces radio frequency as the technology of choice for electronic monitoring and tracking of defendants awaiting trial, and non-violent criminal offenders on probation or parole

Marty Whitford

When it comes to GPS-based electronic monitoring, some people have a lot to learn, according to George Walker, Chief U.S. Pretrial Services Officer for the Central District of California.

"We acquired 140 GPS-based electronic monitoring systems from iSECUREtrac to help us track select persons awaiting trial, and it's saving us considerable time, money, and space, while bolstering safety," Walker said. "A lot of judicial districts, officers and correctional facilities just now are catching up to speed on the significant security advantages of GPS-based electronic monitoring versus old-fashioned radio frequency-based systems--and so are some of our detainees!"

Short Leash

Thanks to GPS, not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

"One defendant awaiting trial who was conditionally released on GPS-based electronic monitoring, and restricted to remain within our district in California, learned the hard way the tremendous capabilities of these GPS-enabled devices," Walker said.

"After we called the awaiting defendant out on his weekend get-away to Las Vegas, he tried to give us a line about accidentally leaving his personal tracking unit (PTU) in the car of his brother, who he said was visiting Las Vegas. When we informed him that that's not possible because this GPS technology alerts us the moment the PTU is 150 feet or more away from its ankle bracelet partner, which has a tamper-proof alert, the defendant paused and reluctantly admitted he had violated the terms of his conditional pretrial release."

Deputy Kevin Rau of the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Oregon said the facility recently purchased 12 iSECUREtrac GPS-based wireless tracking and monitoring systems under a gang enforcement grant and has reaped a plethora of benefits. Rau said Marion County pays about $6 a day to use each of its six passive iSECUREtrac units, which can download nightly a log of an offender's whereabouts, and $10 a day for each of its six active systems, which can track an offender's travels within three minutes of real time.

"Those on the system have to agree to use it in accordance with our terms and have to reimburse us $2 more per day than we pay iSECUREtrac for use of the system, for our additional monitoring time and their added freedom," Rau said. "Select offenders are offered the opportunity to be conditionally released based on GPS electronic monitoring, and they always have the choice to decline--should they opt for incarceration or more-strict parole or probation conditions."

Walker said the central district of California has about 2,000 awaiting federal pretrial at any one time, and pays $4.50 daily for each of its 120 passive monitoring units and $10 daily for each of its 20 active systems.

"These devices certainly provide a cost savings to taxpayers," Walker said. "For each person who qualifies for GPS electronic monitoring who we don't have to hold in federal detention, we save $60 or so per day. With 140 units out there, the savings add up real quickly."

GPS vs. RF

Traditional Radio Frequency (RF)-based electronic monitoring of persons awaiting trial, or on parole or probation, has several Achilles' heals, according to Walker and Rau.

Unlike GPS wireless tracking systems, continuous RF systems typically are designed only to confirm that the defendant or offender is in his home (in close proximity to the base station). Under RF monitoring, offenders usually are restricted to their homes 24 hours a day, or are trusted to be at, or traveling to/from, work 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

GPS units are more portable and reliable, and can provide near real-time notification and detailed proof of violations to victims, courts, law enforcement, and bondsmen.

Due to the inherent limitations of RF-based technology, and negative publicity stemming from numerous crimes and escapes that have occurred when offenders took advantage of RF monitoring systems, hundreds of thousands of non-violent offenders have not yet been offered the chance to be conditionally released to society--but that is fast changing with the use of secure GPS tracking systems, Rau and Walker said.

"Before, many would be hesitant to conditionally release a sexual predator because RF-based systems would leave the offender's whereabouts in question during the very hours children typically are walking to and from school," Rau said. "Now, with GPS wireless tracking, we can know around-the-clock exactly where an offender has been and where he is heading."

The System

Each GPS-based iSECUREtrac system includes a 13.5-ounce personal tracking unit designed to clip onto one's belt, an ankle bracelet, and a charging base station for night time that powers the 6 X 3.25 X 1.75-inch PTU for 16 to 18 hours of use the next day. The ankle bracelet has light and motion sensors to prevent tampering or removal.

Features. ISECUREtrac's 2150 Passive and 2250 Active Wireless monitoring equipment feature a wearable form factor, remote zone programming and automated violation notification. The products track, report and archive information regarding the movements of criminal offenders. The Passive model has real-time data collection and storage, and the Active unit adds secure, realtime notification (via phone, e-mail, and/or pager, to pre-determined individuals on a tiered/as-need basis).

Exclusion Zone Alerts. Officers can set up exclusion zones (such as schools and parks for convicted child molesters), and geo-code areas for those who are territory restricted. Automatic alerts can notify officers when exclusion zones have been entered by an offender or defendant. Exclusion zones can be expanded to forewarn officers of an individual's close proximity to a restricted area.

Web Watcher. By adding the company's tracNET24 integrated Web-based tracking and monitoring system, public authorities, probation officers, bonding agents and court officers can access advanced offender management tools on-line. For instance, the units can provide detailed online mapping (denoted by blue trails) of an offender's travels during a specified period, with zoom-in/drill-down capability on street-level maps delivering precise addresses of homes and businesses visited or nearby.

Hot Market

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 2.1 million are in prison or jail, 4.7 million are on probation or parole, and 15 million are arrested annually.

Tom Wharton, CEO of iSECUREtrac, said the company has sold several thousand GPS-based electronic monitoring devices the past two years, and that he believes it's just the tip of the iceberg.

"Conservatively, there's a market for more than 1 million of our units for non-violent offenders in the United States alone, and being a GPS-based system, we can readily deploy this technology worldwide," Wharton said. "We're in 33 states and it's catching on fast across the country and the globe. We'll be branching out into the United Kingdom in the very near future with a new agreement being finalized right now."

iSECUREtrac isn't the only player competing in this space. Companies such as Pro Tech Monitoring Inc. of Odessa, Florida, Strategic Technologies of Vancouver, Canada, Digital Angel Corp. of St. Paul, Minnesota, and BI Inc. of Boulder, Colorado, are some of the others supplying this rapidly growing segment.

"Our county facility has the capacity for 528 prisoners," Rau said. "Two days ago, we had 529 individuals there--and we're not alone in fighting this space and cost crunch. Many prison terms have doubled to tripled since 1990, and we as a society haven't yet found a good way to deal with the consequences of being 'tough on crime.' These GPS-based monitoring systems are not a cure-all, but they are an excellent start."

Walker seconded the notion.

"GPS-based electronic monitoring systems are poised to take root in law enforcement like radar guns did in the 1980s," Walker said. "More and more, judicial officers are leaving it up to us to determine how best to monitor and track individuals awaiting trial, and non-violent offenders on probation and parole. Most, quite frankly, couldn't care whether we keep an eye on defendants and offenders via GPS or from a spaceship above. They just want them watched--continuously and cost effectively, and that's where GPS comes in."

Manufacturers

iSECUREtrac of Omaha, Nebraska, produces passive and active GPS-based electronic monitoring systems that incorporate a Leadtek Research Inc. 9543 GPS receiver with an embedded SiRFStar II chipset, and a SA76C GPS antenna manufactured by San Jose Navigation.