The Province announced an additional investment of $1.2 million to the electronic monitoring program adding an additional 100 GPS trackable ankle monitors to the current 100 already in use.
Now, a total of 200 ankle monitors will be in use to supervise offenders on community-based sentences and release orders to ensure they comply with court-imposed conditions. Electronic devices and monitoring services with a global positioning system (GPS) tracking allow law enforcement to be notified of an offender’s location in real time and issues alerts if they enter a prohibited area.
"This is very good news," says Brandon Police Chief Tyler Bates. "It's a tool that will have practical application. It will improve the efficiency of our response to public safety matters. So, from that vantage point, for the monitoring of prolific offenders and folks that pose a real and present danger to the community, having them wearing ankle bracelets, or more of them wearing ankle bracelets, will provide us information as to their compliance or non-compliance."
One of the most stringent bail conditions that is often imposed are curfews, and typically when police are verifying one's compliance with the curfew, it's a police officer who is physically knocking at the door of the offender to make sure the person who's on bail is where they're supposed to be.
With the GPS ankle monitor police would be alerted if they leave their house and are on the move.
"We would get immediate notification with respect to that bail violation and be able to proactively intervene to intercept and intersect that individual," adds Chief Bates.
Bates notes the ankle monitors provide a tool that helps them be more proactive and more responsive to those public safety threats.
"Quite honestly, oftentimes when people are breached on their bail conditions, it's because they've committed another offence," he explains. "And when we find out that there are bail conditions that they were supposed to be complying with that they were not, then we deal with things from an enforcement vantage point at that point."
"But to have a tool like this that allows us to proactively intervene before the situation escalates, before there's another violent offense, that's a very positive development. And I'd certainly like to see their presence and the deployment of these devices within the Brandon region with frequency because we certainly do have violent offenders that often receive bail that need to be tracked and monitored to ensure compliance, and to reinforce public safety."
As to who receives an ankle monitor that will be a judge's decision, taking into consideration a variety of factors and the risk posed of the offenses committed.
Of the first 100 ankle monitors already in use in the program, some of those have been deployed within Brandon, used for those most prolific offenders who pose real and present danger to the community.
"The technology is incredible," says Bates. "There are people monitoring these devices that even have the ability to talk to the offender ... and it's a real tool for victims as well."
"So, if somebody is in non-compliance, for example, and has left their residence contrary to a curfew that's been imposed as far as bail conditions are concerned, they can speak directly to that offender to say, 'Hey, you're in violation ... time to go back home. Go back home and the police will be in touch with you shortly,'"
"So, they can have that direct communication to intervene," he adds. "So, there's also the tool available in that device where you can do video conferencing and biometrics, and it's a real tool for victims as well."
For victims of domestic violence, they would be alerted on their own devices that the offender is not in compliance of their bail restrictions.
From a safety perspective, if you're a victim of interpersonal or domestic violence and you're notified that your offender is non-compliant with their bail conditions—such as violating a curfew or being in a restricted area— the ankle monitor now becomes a tool that benefits the victims of crime.
"If you've been victimized by a violent offender, to be notified by your phone that they're not in compliance allows you to take precautions and consider your safety in that moment, aware that the offender is at large in violation of their offenses," adds Chief Bates.
Please listen to more with Brandon Police Chief Tyler Bates below.