Electronic Supervision of Offenders Begins
The justice system in Nova Scotia is making neighbourhoods safer by keeping track of people on conditional sentences and house arrest.
Justice Minister Murray Scott today, May 2, announced the launch of a one-year implementation of the electronic supervision of offenders. Nova Scotia is the first province in Canada to use GPS (global positioning system) technology to monitor offenders.
"Electronic supervision will enhance the safety of Nova Scotians by allowing us to keep a closer eye on offenders in our province who are on conditional sentences and under house arrest," said Mr. Scott.
The initial implementation will involve up to 25 offenders and will take place in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Offenders who are subject to a sentence order containing conditions for house arrest and electronic supervision will be the initial target group.
"The RCMP sees this as a great community safety and crime prevention initiative," said Assistant Commissioner Ian Atkins, commanding officer of the RCMP in Nova Scotia. "We believe electronic monitoring of this type will make those wearing the device think twice about the possibility of re-offending, and we see the program as an opportunity to provide closer monitoring of serious offenders by policing partners."
The system will consist of an ankle bracelet and a GPS recording device, worn by the offender. The system will track the wearer's movement and report back to a central monitoring system. Movement of the offender will be monitored 24 hours per day.
"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," said Chris McNeil, deputy chief of Halifax Regional Police. "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."
Mammoth Inc., of Halifax, and iSECUREtrac Corp., of Nebraska, have been awarded the contract to provide equipment and monitoring services for electronic supervision of offenders in Nova Scotia.
iSECUREtrac will provide the GPS wireless technology equipment and Mammoth Inc. will provide the monitoring services.
"This method of supervising criminal activity will be a step forward in building safer communities in our province," said Mr. Scott.
The electronic supervision project is one of many Justice initiatives meant to enhance the security of Nova Scotians. Others include the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, introduced in November 2005. Under the Act, a citizen's complaint could lead to a court order to shut down illegal liquor, drug, prostitution and gaming locations.