Massachusetts Probation Service's Electronic Bracelet Program Surpasses 5,000 Mark As Agency Prepares to Monitor Offenders on GPS (Global Positioning System)

The number of offenders, probationers and parolees that have been under house arrest in the state, has reached 5,033 since the inception of the Massachusetts Probation Service's Electronic Monitoring (ELMO) Program three years ago. The agency is also preparing to monitor Level 3 sex offenders with Global Positioning System satellite technology, beginning in early 2005.

 

"The Electronic Bracelet Program has been an effective tool in monitoring probationers and parolees. The GPS system, with its advanced technology, will provide an extra layer of supervision for probationers and parolees who live in communities throughout the Commonwealth. We will now know where they live, where they work and the locations where they frequent 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Probation Commissioner John J. O'Brien.

 

As the Massachusetts Probation Service prepares to expand its monitoring operation, it will assess the total number of offenders who will be monitored using GPS technology. A definitive number is not available at this time but will be available in early 2005, according to Paul Lucci, Deputy Commissioner of Probation and ELMO Director.

 

Lucci said the established ELMO Program has only issued 443 warrants against offenders who have violated the terms of their probation since the inception of the program.

 

"This is a pretty successful track record considering that we have had more than 5,000 offenders in the program in the past three years. There are offenders under house arrest in just about every community in the Commonwealth," said Lucci.

 

Currently, there are 459 probationers and 17 parolees, a total of 476 on the bracelet in the state. Middlesex, Worcester and Hampden counties, respectively, have the largest number of offenders on the bracelet. The ELMO Program was designed to provide structure, control and accountability for probationers and parolees.

 

Probation Officers are responsible for hooking up the Electronic Bracelet on an offender immediately following a judge's order. Offenders under house arrest are monitored through the ELMO central office which is equipped with computers and a database. It is a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week operation.

 

The ELMO Program employees 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.

 

ELMO was launched during the summer of 2001. The start of ELMO 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, 63 District Court, eight Boston Municipal Court, and 12 Probate and Family Court probation departments throughout the Commonwealth. Probation's Juvenile Court System includes 11 divisions which represent every county in the state. There are 21 Community Corrections Centers throughout the state.