Remote location monitoring criminal justice

Intermediate Sanctions

As noted in Chapter 11 , significant new alternative sentencing options have become available to judges. Many such options are called intermediate sanctions because they employ sentencing alternatives that fall somewhere between outright imprisonment and simple probationary release back into the community. They are also sometimes termed alternative sentencing strategies. Michael J. Russell, former director of the National Institute of Justice, says that “intermediate punishments are intended to provide prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials with sentencing options that permit them to apply appropriate punishments to convicted offenders while not being constrained by the traditional choice between prison and probation. Rather than substituting for prison or probation, however, these sanctions, which include intensive supervision, house arrest with electronic monitoring (also referred to as remote location monitoring), and shock incarceration—programs that stress a highly structured and regimented routine, considerable physical work and exercise, and at times intensive substance-abuse treatment—bridge the gap between those options and provide innovative ways to ensure swift and certain punishment.” 53

intermediate sanctions

The use of split sentencing, shock probation or parole, shock incarceration, community service, intensive supervision, or home confinement in lieu of other, more traditional sanctions such as imprisonment and fines.

CJ Careers Probation Officer

· Name. Stephanie Drury

· Position. Probation officer, Pontiac, Michigan

· College attended. Wayne State University (BS, criminal justice; MS, criminal justice)

· Year hired. 2009

· Please give a brief description of your job. I am a probation officer for approximately 110 men. The Adult Treatment Court is a specialty court for offenders with severe substance-abuse problems, and many of them also have a mental health diagnosis. My role there is to provide intensive supervision. I attend court with them every two weeks to inform the judge of their progress. Additionally, I see each of them at least once a week in order to ensure they are complying with all conditions of the program and maintaining their sobriety.

· What appealed to you most about the position when you applied for it? I completed an internship with the federal probation department in Detroit and thoroughly enjoyed probation work, so I applied for the state probation job. The Adult Treatment Court position was appealing because I work directly with the judge and am able to provide intensive supervision to my probationers.

· How would you describe the interview process? The interview consisted of a panel of three members of the Michigan Department of Corrections followed by a written test. Questions were based on my academic experience, along with any professional experience I had that would make me a perfect candidate. Also, real-life situations and scenarios were discussed in order to show the panel how I might deal with a particular situation.

· What is a typical day like? I monitor the daily development of the females of the Adult Treatment Court, which includes probation supervision and making sure they are taking their medication, going to therapy, and attending programs such as Narcotics Anonymous. With the men on general supervision, I complete presentence investigations, field work, jail visits, and court appearances.

· What qualities/characteristics are most helpful for this job? You have to be strong and in control at all times. If you don’t have a backbone, the offenders will walk all over you and not take you seriously. It is a demanding job, and you have to be very organized to successfully supervise so many individuals on your caseload. You can exercise a lot of discretion and be your own boss, yet you also have a supervisor who will assist you in times of need.

· What is a typical starting salary? $16.54 per hour, with benefits.

· What is the salary potential as you move up into higher-level jobs? A probation officer with six years or more of experience will earn approximately $28.00 per hour or more, depending on his or her classification.

· What advice would you give someone in college beginning studies in criminal justice? Find internships to gain experience in specific areas in the field of criminal justice. Engage yourself in as much real-life experience as possible, and network with as many professionals as possible, as these two methods will set you apart from other job candidates.

Source: Reprinted with permission of Stephanie Drury. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Drury.

Numerous citizen groups and special-interest organizations are working to widen the use of sentencing alternatives. One organization of special note is the Sentencing Project. The organization, based in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to promoting a greater use of alternatives to incarceration. It provides technical assistance to public defenders, court officials, and other community organizations.

The Sentencing Project and other groups like it have contributed to the development of more than 100 locally based alternative sentencing service programs. Most alternative sentencing services work in conjunction with defense attorneys to develop written sentencing plans. Such plans are basically well-considered citizen suggestions as to appropriate sentencing in a given instance. Plans are often quite detailed and may include letters of support from employers, family members, the defendant, and even victims. Sentencing plans may be used in plea bargaining sessions or may be presented to judges following trial and conviction. Some years ago, for example, lawyers for country-and-western singer Willie Nelson successfully proposed to tax court officials an alternative option that allowed the singer to pay huge past tax liabilities by performing in concerts for that purpose. Lacking such an alternative, the tax court might have seized Nelson’s property or even ordered the singer to be confined to a federal facility. About the same time, former NBA player DeShawn Stevenson was sentenced to two years of probation and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service for the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl whom he had plied with brandy. 54 Stevenson, who played for the Utah Jazz at the time of the offense, fulfilled the terms of his sentence by delivering motivational speeches at boys’ clubs in California and New York.

The basic philosophy behind intermediate sanctions is this: When judges are offered well-planned alternatives to imprisonment for offenders who appear to represent little or no continuing threat to the community, the likelihood of a prison sentence is reduced. An analysis of alternative sentencing plans like those sponsored by the Sentencing Project shows that judges accept them in up to 80% of the cases in which they are recommended and that as many as two-thirds of offenders who receive intermediate sentences successfully complete them. 55

Intermediate sanctions have three distinct advantages: (1) They are less expensive to operate per offender than imprisonment; (2) they are “socially cost-effective” because they keep the offender in the community, thus avoiding both the breakup of the family and the stigmatization that accompanies imprisonment; and (3) they provide flexibility in terms of resources, time of involvement, and place of service. 56 Some of these new sentencing options are described in the paragraphs that follow.

Split Sentencing

In jurisdictions where split sentences are an option, judges may impose a combination of a brief period of imprisonment and probation. Defendants who are given split sentences are often ordered to serve time in a local jail rather than in a long-term confinement facility. Ninety days in jail, followed by two years of supervised probation, is a typical split sentence. Split sentences are frequently given to minor drug offenders and serve notice that continued law violations may result in imprisonment for much longer periods.

split sentence

A sentence explicitly requiring the convicted offender to serve a period of confinement in a local, state, or federal facility, followed by a period of probation.

Shock Probation and Shock Parole

Shock probation strongly resembles split sentencing. The offender serves a relatively short period of time in custody (usually in a prison rather than a jail) and is released on probation by court order. The difference is that shock probation clients must apply for probationary release from confinement and cannot be certain of the judge’s decision. In shock probation, the court in effect makes a resentencing decision. Probation is only a statutory possibility and often little more than an aspiration for the offender as imprisonment begins. If probationary release is ordered, it may well come as a “shock” to the offender. The hope is that the unexpected reprieve will cause the offender to steer clear of future criminal involvement. Shock probation was begun in Ohio in 1965 57 and is used today in about half of the United States. 58 Shock probation lowers the cost of confinement, maintains community and family ties, and may be an effective rehabilitative tool. 59

A New Mexico boot camp staff member conducting a push-up drill with young offenders. Boot camps use military-style discipline in an attempt to lessen the likelihood of recidivism among young and first-time offenders. How successful have boot camps been in reducing recidivism?

Vladimir Chaloupka/Las Cruces Sun-News/AP Wide World Photos

shock probation

The practice of sentencing offenders to prison, allowing them to apply for probationary release, and surprisingly permitting such release. Offenders who receive shock probation may not be aware that they will be released on probation and may expect to spend a much longer time behind bars.

Shock parole is similar to shock probation. Whereas shock probation is ordered by judicial authority, shock parole is an administrative decision made by a paroling authority. Parole boards or their representatives may order an inmate’s early release, hoping that the brief exposure to prison has reoriented the offender’s life in a positive direction.

Shock Incarceration

Shock incarceration programs, which became popular during the 1990s, utilized military-style “boot camp” prison settings to provide highly regimented environments involving strict discipline, physical training, and hard labor. 60 Shock incarceration

Georgia established the first shock incarceration program in 1983. 61 Following Georgia’s lead, more than 30 other states began their own programs. 62 About half of the states provided for voluntary entry into the program, and a few allowed inmates to voluntarily quit the program.

One of the most comprehensive studies of boot camp prison programs that was ever conducted focused on eight states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. The report found that boot camp programs have been popular because “they are … perceived as being tough on crime” and “have been enthusiastically embraced as a viable correctional option.” 63 The report concluded, however, that “the impact of boot camp programs on offender recidivism is at best negligible.”

In recent years, boot camp programs have fallen into disfavor and have largely been discontinued. In 2005, the Bureau of Prisons announced plans to eliminate its boot camp programs (known as “intensive confinement”), hoping to save more than $1 million a year on programs that hadn’t proven their worth; 64 and in 2006, Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed legislation ending state-run boot camps in that state following the death of a 14-year-old participant. Two of the last states to continue to operate boot camps are Wyoming and Nevada. Nevada runs a “program of regimental discipline” at its Three Lakes Valley facility. The facility has a capacity of 75 youthful detainees, and accepts only nonviolent offenders who have committed relatively minor crimes. 65 The Wyoming Boot Camp, which can house up to 56 inmates, is located in the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp at Newcastle, Wyoming. 66 It accepts young offenders under the age of 25 who have been court recommended, and sessions last for 180 days.

Mixed Sentencing and Community Service

Some mixed sentences require that offenders serve weekends in jail and receive probation supervision during the week. Other types of mixed sentencing require offenders to participate in treatment or community-service programs while on probation. Community-service programs began in Minnesota in 1972 with the Minnesota Restitution Program, which gave property offenders the opportunity to work and turn over part of their pay as restitution to their victims. 67 Courts throughout the nation quickly adopted the idea and began to build restitution orders into suspended-sentence agreements.

Actress Lindsay Lohan listens to the judge during a probation hearing in Los Angeles, California, on March 29, 2012. In May 2011, following a plea deal on charges of felony grand theft involving a $2,500 necklace stolen from a jewelry store, Lohan was placed under house arrest and ordered to wear an electronic monitor on her ankle. Why is remote location monitoring becoming a popular alternative to imprisonment?

epa european pressphoto agency b.v./Alamy

mixed sentence

A sentence that requires that a convicted offender serve weekends (or other specified periods of time) in a confinement facility (usually a jail) while undergoing probationary supervision in the community.

Community service is more an adjunct to, rather than a type of, correctional sentence. Community service is compatible with most other forms of innovation in probation and parole. Even with home confinement (discussed later in the chapter), offenders can be sentenced to community-service activities that are performed in the home or at a job site during the hours they are permitted to be away from their homes. Washing police cars, cleaning school buses, refurbishing public facilities, and assisting in local government offices are typical forms of community service. Some authors have linked the development of community-service sentences to the notion that work and service to others are good for the spirit. 68 Community-service participants are usually minor criminals, drunk drivers, and youthful offenders.

community service

A sentencing alternative that requires offenders to spend at least part of their time working for a community agency.

ethics and professionalism American Probation and Parole Association Code of Ethics

· I will render professional service to the justice system and the community at large in effecting the social adjustment of the offender.

· I will uphold the law with dignity, displaying an awareness of my responsibility to offenders while recognizing the right of the public to be safeguarded from criminal activity.

· I will strive to be objective in the performance of my duties, recognizing the inalienable right of all persons, appreciating the inherent worth of the individual, and respecting those confidences which can be reposed in me.

· I will conduct my personal life with decorum, neither accepting nor granting favors in connection with my office.

· I will cooperate with my co-workers and related agencies and will continually strive to improve my professional competence through the seeking and sharing of knowledge and understanding.

· I will distinguish clearly, in public, between my statements and actions as an individual and as a representative of my profession.

· I will encourage policy, procedures and personnel practices, which will enable others to conduct themselves in accordance with the values, goals and objectives of the American Probation and Parole Association.

· I recognize my office as a symbol of public faith and I accept it as a public trust to be held as long as I am true to the ethics of the American Probation and Parole Association.

· I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself to my chosen profession.

Thinking about Ethics

1. Which of the ethical principles enumerated here might also apply to corrections officers working in prisons and jails?

2. Which might apply to law enforcement officers?

3. Which might apply to prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys?

Source: American Probation and Parole Association. Reprinted with permission.

One problem with community-service sentences is that authorities rarely agree on what they are supposed to accomplish. Most people admit that offenders who work in the community are able to reduce the costs of their own supervision. There is little agreement, however, on whether such sentences reduce recidivism, act as a deterrent, or serve to rehabilitate offenders.

Intensive Probation Supervision

Intensive probation supervision (IPS) has been described as the “strictest form of probation for adults in the United States.” 69 IPS is designed to achieve control in a community setting over offenders who would otherwise go to prison. Some states have extended intensive supervision to parolees, allowing the early release of some who would otherwise serve longer prison terms.

intensive probation supervision (IPS)

A form of probation supervision involving frequent face-to-face contact between the probationer and the probation officer.

Georgia was the first state to implement IPS, beginning its program in 1982. The Georgia program involves a minimum of five face-to-face contacts between the probationer and the supervising officer per week, mandatory curfew, required employment, a weekly check of local arrest records, routine and unannounced alcohol and drug testing, 132 hours of community service, and automatic notification of probation officers via the State Crime Information Network when an IPS client is arrested. 70 The caseloads of probation officers involved in IPS are much lower than the national average. Georgia officers work as a team, with one probation officer and two surveillance officers supervising about 40 probationers. 71

One published study showed that IPS programs can be effective at reducing recidivism, especially if the programs are well planned and fully implemented. 72 The study, which examined programs in California’s Contra Costa and Ventura Counties, found that the programs worked because, among other things, they used team approaches in their supervision activities and had clear missions and goals.

Home Confinement and Remote Location Monitoring

Home confinement , also referred to as house arrest, can be defined as “a sentence imposed by the court in which offenders are legally ordered to remain confined in their own residences.” 73 Home confinement usually makes use of a system of remote location monitoring . Remote location monitoring is typically performed via a computerized system of electronic bracelets. Participants wear a waterproof, shock-resistant transmitting device around the ankle 24 hours a day. The transmitter continuously emits a radio-frequency signal, which is detected by a receiving unit connected to the home telephone. Older systems use random telephone calls that require the offender to insert a computer chip worn in a wristband into a specially installed modem in the home, verifying his or her presence. Some use voice recognition technology and require the offender to verify his or her presence in the home by answering computerized calls. Modern electronic monitoring systems alert the officer when a participant leaves a specific location or tampers with the electronic monitoring equipment, and some systems even make it possible to record the time a supervised person enters or leaves the home.

home confinement

House arrest. Individuals ordered confined to their homes are sometimes monitored electronically to ensure they do not leave during the hours of confinement. Absence from the home during working hours is often permitted.

remote location monitoring

A supervision strategy that uses electronic technology to track offenders who have been sentenced to house arrest or who have been ordered to limit their movements while completing a sentence involving probation or parole.

Much of the electronic monitoring equipment in use today indicates only when participants enter or leave the equipment’s range—not where they have gone or how far they have traveled. Newer satellite-supported and cellular systems, however, are capable of continuously monitoring the location of offenders and tracking them as they move from place to place ( Figure 12-3 ). Such systems can alert the officer when participants venture into geographically excluded locations or when they fail to present themselves at required locations at specific times. 74

Intermediate Sanctions

As noted in

Chapter

11

, significant new alternative sentencing options have become

available to judges. M

any such options are called

intermediate

sanctions

because they

employ sentencing alternative

s that fall somewhere between outright imprisonment and

simple probationary release back into the community. They are also sometimes

termed

alternative

sentencing

strategies

. Michael J. Russell, former director of the

National Institute of Justice, says that “intermediate punishments are intended to

provide prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials with sentencing options that permit

them to apply appropriate punishments

to convicted offenders while not being

constrained by the traditional choice between prison and probation. Rather than

substituting for prison

or probation, however, these sanctions, which include intensive

supervision, house arrest with electronic monito

ring (also referred to as

remote

location

monitoring

), and shock incarceration

—

programs that stress a highly structured and

regimented routine, considerable physical work and exercise, and at times intensive

substance

-

abuse treatment

—

bridge the gap between

those options and provide

innovative ways to ensure swift and certain punishment.”

53

interme

diate

sanctions

The use of split sentencing, shock probation or parole, shock incarceration, community

service, intensive supervision, or home confinement in lieu of other, more traditional

sanctions such as imprisonment and fines.

CJ Careers

Probation Off

icer

Intermediate Sanctions

As noted in Chapter 11, significant new alternative sentencing options have become

available to judges. Many such options are called intermediate sanctions because they

employ sentencing alternatives that fall somewhere between outright imprisonment and

simple probationary release back into the community. They are also sometimes

termed alternative sentencing strategies. Michael J. Russell, former director of the

National Institute of Justice, says that “intermediate punishments are intended to

provide prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials with sentencing options that permit

them to apply appropriate punishments to convicted offenders while not being

constrained by the traditional choice between prison and probation. Rather than

substituting for prison or probation, however, these sanctions, which include intensive

supervision, house arrest with electronic monitoring (also referred to as remote location

monitoring), and shock incarceration—programs that stress a highly structured and

regimented routine, considerable physical work and exercise, and at times intensive

substance-abuse treatment—bridge the gap between those options and provide

innovative ways to ensure swift and certain punishment.”53

intermediate sanctions

The use of split sentencing, shock probation or parole, shock incarceration, community

service, intensive supervision, or home confinement in lieu of other, more traditional

sanctions such as imprisonment and fines.

CJ Careers Probation Officer