Leveraging Technology for Effective Curfew Enforcement in the Criminal Justice System
*ChatGPT4 will be acting as my ghost writer moving forward. It is a very powerful tool that will help me provide you with more information on the many criminal justice innovations we have implemented. The use of this new tech actually proves a point. We can innovate by using off-the-shelf, no code/low code tools to modernize the justice system overnight.
And always remember, the tech is just a tool and here to aid us. We are the experts in the law and the workflows. We are the ones who need to develop the relationships with our justice partners. Technology will not solve any problems without you.*
Curfews
In the complex landscape of the criminal justice system, curfews serve as a crucial tool for monitoring the activities of individuals on probation and protecting the community. However, their effectiveness often hinges on the system's capacity to enforce them, a task that has been historically challenging due to logistical constraints.
For a probation officer, ensuring a probationer's adherence to their curfew is not as simple as it may seem. Given the limited number of probation officers and the sheer number of probationers, active supervision during the day is already a demanding task. The added responsibility of night-time monitoring can stretch these resources thin. As a result, the unfortunate reality is that probation officers often only discover curfew violations when a new offense has been committed - a clear indicator that the system needs to adapt and evolve.
In a society where technology permeates nearly all aspects of life, it is only logical that the criminal justice system leverages it to enhance curfew enforcement. So a couple of years ago we implemented an innovative yet simple method to address this issue: random text messages with a video message from our probation officers. These messages contain a unique keyword and requires the probationer to respond with a time-stamped video of themselves outside their residence, uttering the provided keyword. The software that we use allows us to ask questions or make requests via personalized videos, to which probationers can respond in multiple ways - text, audio, or most significantly, video.
These text messages are sent to probationers during their curfew hours, serving as an unanticipated check-in that can catch potential violators off guard. This approach, while seemingly straightforward, is a significant step forward for curfew enforcement. Not only does it reduce the need for many in-person checks, thereby reducing the strain on probation officers, but it also introduces an element of unpredictability that can deter potential violations. It also ensures a level of personalization and interaction that traditional text or email communication may lack, while also serving as an efficient and cost-effective solution.