Varied Uses of Electronic Monitoring: The Los Angeles County Experience (From Intermediate Sanctions: Sentencing in the 1990s, P 3-20, 1995, John Ortiz Smykla and William L Selke, eds. -- See NCJ-167581)

• NCJ Number: 167582
• Author(s): S X Zhang; R Polakow; B J Nidorf
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Following an overview of the use of electronic monitoring (EM) in intensive supervision, this paper describes how EM is used in Los Angeles County.

Abstract

In describing the various contexts in which EM is used in Los Angeles County, the authors focus on intensive probation supervision; the Supervised Release Program, which releases felons from jail to EM supervision; the work furlough EM home detention program; the Community Detention Program, which targets the juvenile probation population; the use of EM with gang members involved in drug-related violence; EM for drug offenders with an order for narcotic testing as a condition of probation; and the EM/Home Detention Program. Other topics discussed are EM equipment selection and criteria establishment, addressing bureaucratic barriers in the implementation of EM programs, and EM costs. The paper concludes with a listing of key aspects of a successful EM program. They are the inclusion of all affected personnel and agencies in prior planning; specific and attainable goals with quantifiable measurement that allows evaluation; the definition and study of affected offender populations; and direct contact between the monitoring staff and the supervising deputy officers when monitoring is done by private vendors.