THE Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has granted early release to five prisoners, tagging them with electronic tracking devices and sending them back into their communities.

The five, who were released on Monday wearing personal identification devices on their ankles, and equipped with personal tracking units which double as a cellphones, as well as repreater units, were drawn from three correctional institutions and are part of a group that is initially expected to be increased to 15.

Acting Commissioner of Corrections Lt Col Sean Prendergast made the disclosure after a press conference at the DCS's probation office in Kingston yesterday, where the Conditional Pre-Release: Home Leave Programme, of which electronic monitoring is central, was launched.

The roll-out of the programme comes after a two-year pilot project between 2008 and 2010 in which 46 volunteer offenders in six parishes were fitted with special ankle bracelets and were monitored. The pilot gave special consideration to the island's terrain.

"The pilot project was a success. It showed that the technology and the equipment were suitable for Jamaica and that is why we are at the stage we're at now where we have actually released inmates, tagged, into the society. There are five out there now and in a few more weeks we'll be up to 15," Prendergast told the Observer.

To be selected, inmates have to be low-risk/non-violent offenders sentenced to five years or less who have already completed at least a third of their sentences. They have to be part of a rehabilitation programme within the prison and have to be recognised for good behaviour.

Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson said the early-release programme, expected to cost US$16.50 per day per prisoner, would save government money given that custodial care costs US$21 per day per prisoner.

"The fact is that we have to devise a number of strategies to relieve overcrowding in the prisons and this is the most obvious one," said Nelson.

Lt Col Prendergast put Jamaica's adult prison population at 4,073, with a recidivism rate of 26.7 per cent. And according to Minister Nelson, "despite approximately 2,000 being released annually, we also take in another 2,000 offenders".

Aside from addressing overcrowding, the programme is also geared at helping inmates reintegrate into civil society.

"It will also serve as a basis for the reintegration of prisoners into their community and to have the community placed in a respective framework to receive these inmates, so these will have some serious significant impact on our crime-fighting efforts," the minister said.

Systems administrator with the DCS, Paul Tate said the bracelets are water and tamper-proof.

"This has fibre optic technology, so the moment you cut this track, light is exposed and immediately we get an alert saying they have tampered with the device and we are able to triangulate their location, time and we retrieve the offender," he said.

Along with being tagged, offenders will be given zones in which they must be at particular times, and those in which they must never be at any time.

"For example, if the offenders are sex offenders and they visit schools and stake them out, we could indicate all the schools in that area and say between 8:00am and 5:00 pm if they enter any of those zones it tells us immediately and we can identify if they are standing still or if they are driving by.

"And it tells how long the offender is in that spot so that in and of itself can be a breach and the offender can be called back," said Tate.

Said Prendergast: "The technology can be very beneficial and we are just making sure, we're being very deliberate and cautious in what we're doing, starting off with some very small numbers but in time those numbers can grow to more meaningful numbers depending on the success of the programme in these early stages".

Electronic monitoring is used in countries like United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Source: Jamaica Observer