Bulletin: Increasing Supervision of Offenders, Keeping Communities Safe

High-risk offenders on bail, under house arrest, or under other court orders in our community will now be more closely supervised.

Expanding Electronic Supervision

The province is expanding its electronic supervision, now used for high-risk adult offenders, to youth.

An offender on electronic supervision wears an ankle bracelet and monitoring device (using global positioning system technology) that provides location information to an offender monitoring centre. If an offender leaves the house arrest location when they are not supposed to, or doesn't meet curfew, law enforcement will know. As well, exclusion zones can be established. For example, an offender who poses a risk to other youth can be excluded from going to, or near, a school. Again, the monitoring centre is notified if the offender enters an excluded zone.

The province is also expanding the use of electronic supervision to include voice verification, an automated telephone monitoring system that uses the latest technology to confirm that an offender under house arrest or close supervision is actually at home. This will help supervise about 350 offenders serving conditional sentences provincewide.

Expanding Supervision of Youth on Bail

The province plans, in 2008, to expand the Youth Bail Supervision Program, now operating in the Halifax Regional Municipality. This program is available as an alternative to custody for youth who agree to follow strict conditions if released on bail. Those conditions include a 9 p.m. curfew; daily reports by telephone and weekly visits to probation officers; and participation in counselling, education or other programs.

The bail-supervision program is operated in partnership with youth attendance centres, which are also being expanded (see pp. 40-41, Time to Fight Crime Together). This partnership provides youth with direct access to a wide range of programs and services designed to help them become responsible, productive citizens.

Investment: Expanded Electronic Supervision & Voice Verification $275,000

Expanded Youth Bail Supervision $75,000 Sites:

• Expanded Electronic Supervision to Youth, Halifax Regional Municipality
• Voice Verification, provincewide
• Expanded Youth Bail Supervision, Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Annapolis Valley

Strategy Link: Enforcement, see p. 34, Time to Fight Crime Together.

The complete crime prevention stategy is available online at www.gov.ns.ca .