Parole Board Begins Using GPS Technology to Monitor Offenders

This from the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole as the Parole Board Begins Using GPS Technology to Monitor Offenders, Continues Efforts to Increase Public Safety and Modify Offender Behavior

Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole Chairman Michael C. Potteiger today announced that the Board is now using global positioning system, or GPS, technology to monitor offenders on parole supervision.

“The Board has been exploring the use of GPS for some time and we are pleased to announce that this additional tool will help us monitor the activities of certain offenders in order to increase public safety,” Potteiger said. “This is yet another example, under Governor Corbett’s leadership, that the Board is making the most of technology to increase public safety for the benefit of Pennsylvania’s citizens.”

This month the Board completed training in its ten parole districts, and approximately 50 offenders so far have been placed on GPS electronic monitoring.

Electronic monitoring consists of an ankle unit, or receiver, that is placed on offenders as part of the Board’s comprehensive sanctioning process to monitor the location of parolees and safely supervise them in the community.

Inclusion and exclusion boundary zones can be established with the monitoring. Inclusion zones are locations where the offender should be, such as work, home or counseling offices; and exclusion zones are locations where the offender is prohibited from going, such as elementary schools, a spouse’s residence, or known gang hangout areas. These zones can be adjusted as the offender’s behavior exhibits compliance or non-compliance.

The Board contracted with iSECUREtrac and 3M Electronic Monitoring for use of web-based systems that allow parole agents to access status and monitoring reports from their computer. Information from the receiver is reported several times a minute. The vendors provide monitoring services and notify the Board’s 24/7 Operations Monitoring Center when an alert needs to be addressed by the Board.

For more information about the Board, visit www.pbpp.state.pa.us.