I’m surprised no one has pushed through a cell-phone tracking app as a replacement for the ankle monitors. Sure, its not as secure, and may be left somewhere/forgotten/etc. but if you included it as a condition for parole/probation, you could probably get pretty high usage rates, with little added cost and annoyance.
Sure, the first point is why I think it will work. As for the second, sure, it may not be 100% accurate, but it would be better than nothing, and even negative information could be useful. (e.g. Person X did not have their phone on during the robbery, but otherwise normally has it on them 100% of the time.) I agree it’s not an ideal solution, just something that might help a little.
What do you mean, “will”? It is working. If you are deemed to be a person of sufficient interest to one of the TLAs, they can track your phone right now.
Justice departments notably have trouble keeping up with modern technology. Where I live, it’s still impossible to get a digital copy of your file (leading to a case where someone ate an important document and was able to go free on a technicality).
Not just that, but smartphones are not quite ubiquitous yet. Either you require the person to purchase one, or have the state purchase one, neither of which is ideal.
I suspect there are also legal and human right problems, since ankle monitors are already used as a form of punishment, but have never been used (as far as I know) as a parole/probation measure.
I’m surprised no one has pushed through a cell-phone tracking app as a replacement for the ankle monitors. Sure, its not as secure, and may be left somewhere/forgotten/etc. but if you included it as a condition for parole/probation, you could probably get pretty high usage rates, with little added cost and annoyance.
First, all cell phones have tracking already built-in as a free (and undeletable) feature X-/
Second, if I know I’m going out to do some robbery and muggery, will it inconvenience me much to leave my cell phone at home?
Sure, the first point is why I think it will work. As for the second, sure, it may not be 100% accurate, but it would be better than nothing, and even negative information could be useful. (e.g. Person X did not have their phone on during the robbery, but otherwise normally has it on them 100% of the time.) I agree it’s not an ideal solution, just something that might help a little.
What do you mean, “will”? It is working. If you are deemed to be a person of sufficient interest to one of the TLAs, they can track your phone right now.
Justice departments notably have trouble keeping up with modern technology. Where I live, it’s still impossible to get a digital copy of your file (leading to a case where someone ate an important document and was able to go free on a technicality).
Not just that, but smartphones are not quite ubiquitous yet. Either you require the person to purchase one, or have the state purchase one, neither of which is ideal.
I suspect there are also legal and human right problems, since ankle monitors are already used as a form of punishment, but have never been used (as far as I know) as a parole/probation measure.