GPS Monitorng Solutions monitors Juveniles

We provide monitoring for Juveniles

On many occasions parents call us asking for a device they can install on their juveniles as the run away, sneak out of the house at night, etc.

Our small ankle bracelet monitoring device can keep track of your teenager at all times. The device is tamper proof and even if your smart teenager tries to take it off in some fashion, you will be alerted immediately!

When your daughter sneaks out at night, wouldn't it be nice to know exactly were she is? Now that's possible.

Generally, your teenagers will not even attempt to take off, as they know you are watching their location.

You have the option of setting a house arrest type rule for night time. Set an alarm to the bracelet so that you will be alerted the second he or she sneaks out of the house at night.

This device is also great if your juvenile goes on spring break!

Know where your child is at all times. Feel more comfortable letting them leave with their friends.

With the click of a mouse, you will always know were they are.

Fact

Close to 70% of previously confined juvenile offenders are rearrested less than two years after their release.

Reduce recidivism, truancy and hold offenders accountable without the stigma of detention with SecureAlert’s case management services. SecureAlert’s case management programs allows juvenile offenders to attend school and maintain family relationships. These programs and services include active tracking, school attendance, drug/alcohol testing and monitoring programs.

GPS Used to Track Truants

San Antonio court authorities recently announced a 6-month pilot program covering approximately 50 high school students that will use GPS ankle bracelets to track truants:

“We are at a critical point in our time where we can either educate or incarcerate,” [Bexar County Justice of the Peace Linda] Penn said, linking truancy with juvenile delinquency and later criminal activity.

Penn said students in the program will wear the ankle bracelets full-time and will not be able to remove them. They’ll be selected as they come through her court, and Penn will target truant students with gang affiliations, those with a history of running away and skipping school, and those who have been through her court multiple times.”

The Texas ACLU applauded efforts to keep kids in school but was concerned about privacy issues since students can be tracked full-time, including during after-school hours.

The article mentions that this program has already been used in other Texas communities, although I wasn't aware of it. It’s an aggressive program and, in my opinion, a close call. There are legitimate privacy concerns but students who drop-out of school are the biggest losers. There may also be racial issues since drop-outs are often minorities, especially Hispanics, in many Texas communities.

It reminds me of that old saying: Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Foreclosing aggressive efforts to keep kids in school could preserve students’ privacy but sacrifice their futures.

Source

Services provided:

Truant Monitoring Truancy - Utilize GPS Monitoring as a tool to significantly reduce today's truancy rate and keep your kids in school.

Restraining Order Solution Runaways - Utilize GPS Monitoring as a tool to keep your teenager at home. Prevent them from sneaking out at night. Our MOnitoring Center will call you to alert you if your teen is trying to sneak out.

Article

Texas County Electronically Tracks Juveniles

By Karen Stewartson

Although juvenile delinquency rates have decreased somewhat in recent years, nationwide statistics are still high - juvenile delinquent caseloads in 2004 were four times more than in 1960, according to the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

However, Texas has invested heavily to counteract juvenile crimes. In 2007, Gov. Rick Perry allocated $2.8 million to juvenile accountability programs in several counties, including Hale County, to improve services.

To combat its juvenile delinquency problem, Hale County implemented electronic GPS monitoring devices to track juvenile delinquents in real time, 24/7.

The Solution
In May 2007, Hale County deployed an offender monitoring system from Omnilink Systems, a location-based services provider in Alpharetta, Ga., which utilizes GPS and cellular signals to zero in on offenders. The device, coupled with FocalPoint 2.0 software, lets probation officers keep tabs on juvenile delinquents and help keep them out of trouble.

Probation officers can assign various parameters, such as mobile inclusionary and exclusionary zones - places kids are and aren't allowed to be - and designate time frames when they are supposed to be at home or in school.

Eddie Subealdea, Hale County's chief probation officer, said his department uses the offender monitoring system to ensure that kids aren't violating court orders and curfew or ditching school. "Omnilink has a Web site that you can go to and track them," he said. "If you're at the computer, you know exactly where the kids are."

For example, if an offender burglarized a house on X Street and he or she is within 300 feet of that premise, a probation officer can be alerted immediately via e-mail or cell phone, at which point the delinquent could be taken into custody. In other cases, a juvenile might be warned to stay away from a location or find an alternate route to wherever he or she needs to go.

"You can set up how you want to do it," Subealdea said. "If the probation officers want to be notified immediately, the tracking center will call the officers and let them know on their cell phones. If the probation officer just wants to know of any violations by e-mail, then they can do that as well."

The one-piece device is easy to use and can be installed in as little as five minutes. Previously, slower land line tracking systems required probation officers to go to an offender's house, set up the unit, make sure it worked, and call the tracking center to ensure that it was up and running. With the new system, tracking begins once it has been activated and gives precise details, unlike land lines that only let probation officers know if the person is at home or within a certain range.

Subealdea said the system is hassle-free. "You put it on in the office and set it on the computer. And the minute the kids leave, it's tracking them."

In addition to receiving an eagle-eyed view on the children, which won over Subealdea, probation officers can also view the device's battery levels on their computers and notify kids that they need to charge the battery.

Cost Benefits
Currently 11 children from ages 12 to 16 have been ordered by the court to wear the devices. Their offenses vary from truancy to sexual assault, and they are tracked 24/7.
The initial cost was only $275 for the entire project, and it costs the probation department from $4.50 to $10 daily to monitor the children. However, the exact cost depends on how often a probation officer is alerted, Subealdea explained.

One benefit of the device is that it allows children to live somewhat normal lives as opposed to being detained when awaiting trial. "We've been able to put some of these kids on the GPS and let them stay at home and still go to their normal school," said Subealdea. "The GPS has allowed us to keep them at home and keep them in their school districts." He said that spending as much as $10 per day on the tracking devices is still a savings compared with the $84-$112.50 they would otherwise be spending to keep the juveniles in a detention center.

Subealdea said most defendants' lawyers now request an offender monitoring system as the preferred alternative to sending children to detention. Because the technology is so accurate, it's already helping some delinquents with their cases. "We usually order kids on the GPS units for six months," said Subealdea. "If they comply with all of their conditions of probation during that time, we let them off." He said juveniles don't want to wear the devices and they wind up in detention facilities. "They think that's too juristic and then we have to take other measures."

As for the children who must learn the hard way and go to detention, Subealdea said once they are out, they do the right thing. "Some of those kids, they get on it and if they spend one or two days in detention, that's enough to get their attention," said Subealdea. "They come out, and they do what they have to with the monitor.