NCJ Number
124825
Date Published
1987
Length
38 pages
Annotation
The Michigan Department of Corrections conducted a 6-month pilot project from April-October 1986 in Washtenaw County to determine the feasibility of using electronic monitoring as an alternative to incarceration.
Abstract
Specific project objectives were to determine if electronic monitoring equipment functioned as claimed, if a sufficient number of participants was available for placement in home confinement, if diversion from prison occurred, the level of program participant compliance, and if selected offenders could be safely supervised in the community with electronic monitoring. Twelve offenders from Washtenaw County were placed on a delayed sentence and ordered to participate in the project, after it had been determined that the offenders were willing to participate. The 12 were nonassaultive property offenders who had no pending escape charge, no history of drug involvement, and no pattern of flight behavior. An additional 14 offenders from other Michigan counties were also monitored. During the project, participants were restricted to their residence when not at work, school, training, or treatment. In Washtenaw County, 8 offenders successfully completed the project; 2 were terminated due to technical violations, 1 had not completed the home confinement period, and 1 had not started the home confinement period. For the other 14 participants, 3 successfully completed the project, 3 were terminated for technical violations, 2 were terminated for admission to inpatient drug treatment, and 7 had not completed the home confinement period. It is concluded that offenders selected for the project were safely supervised in the community, because there were no new felony charges for program participants and almost half of the Washtenaw County offenders performed better than expected. 5 references, 8 tables, 2 figures.