In the Era of E-Carceration: Criminal Justice Trends and Concerns with Electronic Monitoring

Abstract

Often considered as an “alternative to incarceration,” electronic monitoring (EM) is widely promoted as a central method of reducing incarceration costs while ensuring public safety. Yet there remain questions regarding the use of EM which require further academic attention. Drawing upon a litany of cross-jurisdictional EM literature, this article identifies ongoing trends and concerns of EM. At present there are growing EM debates pertaining to privatization: the perspectives from offenders, operators, victims, media, and the public about EM, which ultimately progress the debate forward. In Canada the evolution of EM has been relatively slow and intermittent compared to its American and European counterparts; however, we are not immune to the challenges facing the use of EM as a fix to criminal justice system crises. The article concludes with a reflection on EM as an alternative form of incarceration; in the era of “E-Carceration” we are witnessing the use of technology to deprive people of their liberty and punish them (Kilgore, 2018). Challenging EM requires us to support humane solutions to human problems, rather than resorting to the answer EM provides.