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Press Article May 2, 2006
Feb 27, 2007
Province Begins Ankle Bracelet Monitoring for Some Offenders on House Arrest
Nova Scotia becomes the first province to implement electronic
supervision technology in an effort to track people who have been
placed on conditional sentencing and house arrest by the courts.
NS Justice Minister Murray Scott announced today the beginning of a
one-year implementation program that will see 25 offenders who have
been sentenced to house arrest within the Halifax Regional Municipality
outfitted with electronic ankle bracelets and a Global Positioning
(GPS) device.
The electronic surveillance will enable
police to monitor the exact whereabouts and movements of the offenders
24 hours a day. Conditional sentencing in the form of house arrest in
the past has been difficult to supervise and some offenders were able
to move about freely because of a lack of regular supervision by the
proper authorities.
Deputy chief of Halifax Regional Police Chris
McNeil said, "The Electronic Supervision Program is an important
innovation to support offenders in the community and should provide a
greater deterrent for offenders to breach their conditions or
re-offend. Further, it complements our strict enforcement of people on
conditional sentences, and only serves to enhance police efforts and
provide safer communities in Nova Scotia."
The RCMP also applaud the program and call electronic supervision "a great community safety and crime prevention initiative".
Contracts for equipment and monitoring services have been awarded to
Mammoth Inc. of Halifax and iSECUREtrac Corp., of Nebraska.