NCJ Number
222066
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 2008 Pages: 1-5
Date Published
January 2008
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Following a literature review on the use of electronic monitoring for sex offenders, the benefits and concerns, 10 recommendations are presented to better ensure the sanction is used efficiently, effectively, and fairly.
Abstract
Because of the increased use of electronic monitoring for sex offenders, it is important that criminologists and criminal justice practitioners consider how this technology applies to this group of offenders. Ten recommendations are offered on ways to effectively implement electronic monitoring policies for sex offenders. These recommendations include: (1) officials should determine and define the goals of GPS-monitoring policies based on what the policies can actually achieve; (2) researchers or criminologists must take steps to ensure that policymakers have the information they need to develop empirically informed sexual assault prevention policies and laws; (3) policymakers should be encouraged to develop sex offending prevention policies and laws that are based on the fact that offenders are family members and acquaintances; (4) policymakers should recognize that specific sexual assault prevention policies may be unproductive or counterproductive; (5) zero-tolerance policies should be avoided where possible; (6) criminal justice officials must recognize that GPS monitoring by itself is not a solution to sex offending; (7) probation and parole officers working with GPS monitored sex offenders should expect dramatic increases in their workload; (8) training and funding are critical components to the success of any violence prevention policy; (9) the responsibility for controlling sex offenders cannot be placed solely on one institution, a collaborative effort is required; and (10) criminologists should increase their research in the area of electronic monitoring of sex offenders. References