Pretrial GPS Supervision of Intimate Partner Violence Defendants (Western Region, United States)
Life periods served
Country of application
Description

This is an electronic tracking intervention with a GPS system to monitor persons accused of violence against women. The objective is to reduce revictimization and non-compliance with requirements, such as recurrent non-appearance in court.
Participants are informed about constant monitoring and the need to attend court and case management meetings with supervisors. Electronic monitoring involves the determination of exclusion zones, which correspond to the victim’s routine environment (home, children’s school, work).
In case of non-compliance with the rules, the surveillance team alerts the supervisors through different communication channels, who in turn establish contact with police officers for on-site checks or arrests.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation revealed a statistically significant reduction in the risk of defendants failing to attend meetings with pretrial services, but no significant impact of court non-attendance on the risk of new arrests for offenses or new arrests associated with domestic violence was observed [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Grommon, E., Rydberg, J. y Carter, J. G. (2017). Does GPS supervision of intimate partner violence defendants reduce pretrial misconduct? Evidence from a quasi-experimental study. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 13(4), 483–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-017-9304-4

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