House arrest through Electronic Monitoring
By December 2009 at the latest most people had heard of Electronic Monitoring (EM). Indeed it is the system used to monitor the house arrest of film director Roman Polanski at his chalet in Gstaad. The technical infrastructure is operated by Securiton. However the anklet restraint used in this particular case is just one type of EM application; the system itself is very versatile.
When he arrived in Switzerland in September 2009 director Roman Polanski was arrested under the terms of a US arrest warrant. Three months later he was released from extradition custody and put under house arrest. The terms of the house arrest specified that the Oscar winning director must remain confined to his house and garden in Gstaad at all times.
Classic EM monitoring
Polanski’s house arrest is made possible by Electronic Monitoring. Securiton installed this permanent electronic monitoring system at Polanski’s chalet. Prison officers attached a transmitter - also known as an electronic restraint - to the director’s ankle. A receiver inside the house defines the exact radius within which Roman Polanski is allowed to move. Should he venture outside that radius the system triggers an alarm. Likewise any attempt to tamper with the restraint or the transmitter is immediately notified to the Securitas AG monitoring centre and from there to the Bern Canton Police. While this type of monitoring cannot prevent an escape, it does allow for an alarm to be raised quickly.
The Swiss authorities have been carrying out pilot trials with classic EM in several Cantons since 1999 for short terms of imprisonment or as an implementation stage to reinsertion after long prison sentences. Generally the experiences gained have been positive.
Other EM possibilities
There are also various other applications besides classic EM. The simplest is voice identification, where the monitored subject is called at home or their place of work and asked to identify themselves by voice. In the case of alcohol monitoring (for educative measures following a court injunction or for monitoring alcohol withdrawal) classic EM is coupled with a camera for facial recognition and an alcohol measuring device. With GPS positioning the delinquent can also be monitored outside the home. The ankle restraint transmits the position by GSM to the EM centre. At present GPS localisation is not used in Switzerland.
Soon EM will also be used for cases involving domestic violence. Here both the victim and the offender are permanently monitored using GPS. The monitoring centre and the police are then informed immediately if the two parties are in breach of the restraining order. The appropriate measures and interventions can then be initiated.