Recidivism, Compliance, and Reentry into Communities

Scenario
One of society's biggest challenges lies not so much in punishing criminals, but in getting criminals to change their ways. High recidivism (re-offense) rates become a frustration to our criminal justice system, a tax burden for citizens, and a safety concern for the communities into which the offenders are released. In a study of approximately 300,000 released prisoners, 67.5% were rearrested in three years or less.

Research suggests that the keys to breaking the cycle of repeat offense are the following:

Explicit communication of rules and the consequences of adhering to or breaking those rules, along with the certainty that sanctions will be applied
Regular participation in both in-prison treatment and postrelease treatment during community reentry
According to a study conducted in California, treatment of offenders for $209 million saved taxpayers more than $1.5 billion 18 months later. The study estimated that for every $1 spent on treatment, approximately $7 could be gained in future savings. However, studies have also shown that programs that don't delivery appropriate treatment can actually increase recidivism rates.
Solution
GPS offender tracking systems can play a pivotal role in breaking the cycle of repeat offense by providing in-depth offender monitoring information.

Regarding (1) above, a Parolee officer may explicitly communicate rules and the consequences of adhering to or breaking those rules, but the disability of the officer to accurately and routinely verify compliance may make an offender uncertain that sanctions will be applied, weakening or nullifying effectiveness. GPS tracking systems provide for accurate, dependable, and thorough verification of offender compliance 24/7/365, anywhere in the world. Instances of non compliance can be reported immediately to the corresponding officer, allowing for timely application of sanctions when appropriate.

Regarding (2) above, most Parolee officers recognize the value of community reentry postrelease treatment programs, but often cannot verify regular offender participation. STEALTHTRAC's hardware and systems enable officers to authentically verify offender treatment program attendance by creating customized zones and schedules and zones for each offender. Agency personnel can be alerted automatically when offenders miss treatment programs. This up-to-date offender compliance information helps officers to increase the chances of successful offender rehabilitation.

Some test communities using GPS offender tracking found that participant recidivism rates during the first 18 months dropped to below 3%.