It’s no secret that jails and prisons are overcrowded. Incarceration can also sometimes seem like a punishment that’s worse than the crime. If an offender needs a less harsh sentence or shows good behavior while incarcerated, GPS ankle monitor use in tandem with house arrest can be a good option.
Before you make the decision, you should educate yourself on how a GPS ankle monitor works. You might be wondering if GPS monitoring is enough to keep an offender in line. You might also want to know how courts typically deal with ankle monitors.
In this guide, you’ll learn all you need to know about the rules that guide house arrests with GPS ankle monitors.
How Does a GPS Ankle Monitor Work?
An offender receives a GPS ankle monitor when they begin their house arrest sentence. The court calibrates the ankle monitor with the parameters that the court has set for the sentence. Using this information, the GPS ankle monitor will track the offender and alert authorities in case of rule-breaking.
GPS ankle monitors contain a GPS chip and a SIM card. These components identify the offender and keep track of where they are. Together, they form a closed circuit.
If the offender attempts to remove the monitor, this circuit breaks. This broken circuit triggers an alarm for authorities.
The Rules of Wearing a GPS Ankle Monitor
When an offender receives a sentence for house arrest, they have several rules they must follow. These rules are the conditions they must meet to continue their sentence under house arrest rather than incarceration.
Keep a Job
One common rule for wearing an ankle monitor is to keep working. Inmates are allowed to leave prison and live at home for an opportunity to reintegrate into society. Keeping a job is also often necessary because wearing an ankle monitor costs money monthly.
Ankle monitor-wearers aren’t generally allowed to leave their set boundaries, but traveling to and from a job is necessary. Therefore, the court and assigned officer keep track of where the person has a job and allows travel to this location during work hours.
Losing the job can result in an end to the agreement, sending the person back to incarceration.
Stay With Agreed Schedule
When a person receives an ankle monitor by the court, the court approves locations for travel. These locations will be set in court, and any further traveling will require approval from the assigned officer.
Some common locations for this travel could be:
- Church
- School
- Work
- Healthcare facilities
- Meetings with your probation or parole officer
- Rehabilitation centers
- The location of community service
The sentence will also include a curfew and a schedule. A parole or probation officer will set the time periods allowed for travel to these approved locations. Any travel to these locations outside of agreed-upon hours could result in an alert from the ankle monitor.
For example, it is most likely that visits to religious buildings would happen on weekends. There would also be a set day and time each week for rehabilitation meetings to occur. The time and location of community service will also be set by the court.
The best GPS ankle monitor is equipped with several different ways of keeping a signal. Under the best conditions, great GPS ankle monitors can be accurate with a margin of only 6.5 feet. They have anti-jamming capabilities and can switch to cellular triangulation when they lose a GPS signal.
Pay All Court Fees
The court agrees to let the individual live with an ankle monitor on house arrest under the condition that they pay all their court fees. This arrangement is similar to paying bail. If this individual fails to pay, it will likely end in them being incarcerated.
Meet With Parole or Probation Officer
The conditions for house arrest include mandatory meetings with the parole or probation officer. These meetings vary depending on the offenses that the individual committed and their unique needs.
For example, these meetings could address:
- Employment
- Living situation
- Attending mandatory rehabilitation or counseling meetings
- Conducting drug and alcohol tests
- Personal physical and mental health
- Court hearings
Overall, the job of the parole or probation officer is to make sure the offender is following all the rules of house arrest and satisfactorily integrating into society.
Abstain From Drugs and Alcohol
Offenders must live a clean life, especially if they have drug or alcohol-related offenses. A GPS ankle monitor can make sure offenders stay within the boundaries of their sentence, but some monitors have built-in alcohol and drug detection, too.
If deemed necessary, the offender must take routine drug tests given by their assigned officer or medical professionals to ensure they are following the terms of their house arrest. They may also have to attend rehabilitation and counseling to help them move on from past alcohol and drug-related crimes.
Don’t Tamper With the Monitor
The absolute most important rule about wearing a GPS ankle monitor is that the offender does not attempt to take it off. There is no reason to take off the monitor, as it is waterproof and tamper-resistant. GPS ankle monitors are not only designed to sense when the offender has left the set boundaries, but also when they are attempting to tamper with it.
If an offender removes their ankle monitor, the monitor will send alerts to law enforcement immediately. Law enforcement will locate and arrest the offender. This type of offense leads to a loss of the house arrest agreement. Law enforcement will then incarcerate the offender.
Help Offenders Get Back On Their Feet
Having the chance to live out their sentence under house arrest can greatly help offenders when they reintegrate into society. They will get the help they need through rehabilitation and counseling while holding a job and visiting centers for education and worship.
Kapa Technologies offers state-of-the-art GPS ankle monitors for law enforcement. Partner with us now to buy GPS ankle monitors and start offering house arrest in your location.