Federal Government Adopts Made-In-Nova Scotia Solution To Tracking Offenders

NOTE: The following is a feature story for the Department of Justice

It's 9:05 p.m. on a Tuesday night, and Brian MacDougall is watching TV with his family when his BlackBerry goes off.

It's an alert from the Omnilink offender monitoring centre. One of the 60 offenders in Nova Scotia's electronic supervision initiative has a court-ordered curfew to be home from 9 p.m. until 9 a.m. The Global Positioning System (GPS) in his ankle bracelet has transmitted information that the offender is not where he is supposed to be. A probation officer is already investigating.

"There are at least four pieces of technology in this device that tells us where an offender is 24 hours a day, seven days a week," MacDougall says.

"Not only does this tool, along with everything else we do, make offenders more accountable than ever to their court orders, we also get an alert right away if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, or try to tamper with the anklet in any way."

The anklet complements the province's probation officers who use a voice-verification system and home visits to ensure offenders are meeting the terms of their release. The anklet reports its position to a monitoring network on a regular basis. Alerts are issued whenever an offender violates conditions such as curfews, residency or location restrictions.

It also has a rehabilitative aspect, as appointments can be programmed to notify offenders of medical, addiction or parole appointments.

Three other provinces, B.C., Saskatchewan and Newfoundland use older technology, but Nova Scotia is ahead of the curve and is partnering with the federal government to share what it has learned.

"In 2006, Nova Scotia became the first province in the country to use GPS technology to monitor offenders," says Justice Minister and Attorney General Cecil Clarke. "This technology is the most up to date on the market."

Nova Scotia's years of research, experience and expertise are serving as a model, Stockwell Day, the federal Minister of Public Safety, announced Aug. 12.

"It will be federally monitored and federally funded, but with the expertise that has been developed here through the auspices of the Nova Scotia government," Day said at a news conference in Halifax.

While the Correctional Service of Canada will use Nova Scotia's electronic monitoring systems, it will be responsible for monitoring offenders during the pilot project. The province will offer advice and support.

The one-year pilot, which will begin in September, will include monitoring up to 30 offenders in the Ontario region. Based on the results, options to extend the program across Canada will be examined.

Back at Brian MacDougall's house, he gets another report. Because the offender did not have permission from his probation officer to be out past curfew, he was apprehended by police. The Omnilink Offender Monitoring Centre helped locate the offender using GPS and other tracking technologies.

"Before this, we may not have known this early that the offender was breaking his conditions. This makes inmates more accountable than ever before and, as a result, keeps the public safer," MacDougall says.