Massachusetts Probation Service's Electronic Bracelet Program Enters Second Year
With More Than 400 Offenders Under House Arrest Statewide

          The number of probationers and parolees, monitored by the Electronic Bracelet Program of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, has climbed to 432 this month. The program has tracked a total of 2,800 offenders in the community since its inception two years ago.

          "There are offenders on house arrest in every county throughout the Commonwealth," said Paul Lucci, Deputy Commissioner of Probation, Programs Division.

          Currently, there are 395 probationers and 37 parolees on the electronic bracelet in the state. Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk counties have the largest number of offenders on the bracelet. The Electronic Monitoring Program, referred to as ELMO by probation officials, was designed to provide structure, control and accountability for probationers and parolees as well as to offer an extra layer of supervision by Probation Officers for communities.

          Probation Officers are responsible for hooking up the electronic bracelet on an offender immediately following a judge's decision. Monitoring through the Electronic Monitoring central office, equipped with computers and database, is a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week operation.

          The ELMO Program employs a number of professional, state-of-the-art devices to monitor probationers and parolees in the community. One device, a specialized wand, allows a probation officer to drive by any location where an offender is - home, work, doctor's appointment, etc.-- and read the bracelet of the individual by simply pointing the wand in the direction of the building or site. Another device, the Sobrietor, is used to check the sobriety of an offender. The offender blows into the device which determines if he or she has had any alcohol.

          It was during the summer of 2001 when the ELMO Program got underway in the Commonwealth. This marked the first time in the history of the Massachusetts Probation Service when the Service became responsible for monitoring its own probationers by electronic bracelet. The Massachusetts Probation Service also monitors parolees.

          The Massachusetts Probation Service is a department of the Massachusetts Trial Court. There are 12 Superior Court, 70 District Court and 12 Probate and Family Court probation offices throughout the Commonwealth. Probation's Juvenile Court system includes 11 divisions which represent every county in the state. The Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP) serves as the central administrative office for the state Probation service and the Office of Community Corrections which operates 23 Community Corrections Centers throughout the state.