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Abstract: 

In November 2012 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, the authors presented the results of a national survey they had conducted under an NIJ Grant, on the use of GPS in enforcing orders of protection in domestic violence cases. Their study, which included interviews with victims and defendants, law enforcement and court officers, and social service providers, is the broadest attempt yet to understand how pretrial services are employing the unique capabilities of GPS tracking to create enforceable exclusion and inclusion zones. In this article, the authors update and summarize the main findings of their study—how programs vary in goals and emphasis, how defendants view the experience of EM, how victims feel about the level of security this new technology provides, and how professionals in the field are expanding their use of GPS as they learn from experience what it can and cannot do.

Keywords: Monitoring pretrial defendants

Affiliations:  1: University of Illinois at Chicago; 2: University of Illinois at Chicago; 3: University of Illinois at Chicago.