Invisible chains - Sweden tests electronic tagging project for convicts

Sweden's electronic tagging project

Imprisonment is the most expensive form of punishment in modern society. In Sweden, the upkeep of an inmate in an open prison costs approximately 1,500 kroner ($200 or [pounds]120) a day, and around 2,000 kroner ($250 or [pounds]160) in a closed prison. Studies have shown that incarceration has a negative impact on detainees, who are forced to leave their families, jobs and social life, and that prisons are breeding grounds for criminality where young inmates learn about crime from more experienced lawbreakers.

To address these issues, Sweden launched a pilot project in 1994 in which minor offenders can choose to be put under electronic surveillance instead of going to prison. In six probation districts, lawbreakers sentenced to prison terms of two months or less were given the option of living at home and wearing an electronic ankle bracelet. Results surpassed expectations and three years later the programme was expanded to include all offenders nationwide sentenced to terms of three months or less. Nearly half the 4,000 people eligible for electronic tagging in the first six months of 1997 had been convicted of drunken driving.

Offenders must meet several requirements to be eligible for the programme. They must have a recognized home, a phone and a job. In addition, they must pay 50 kroner ($6 or [pounds]4) a day for the duration of their sentence to Victim Support, a charitable organization. A 1997 study showed that several offenders who did not request the bracelet said the reason was they could not afford the 50 kroner a day or had neither a job nor a home.

Probation officers do all they can to assist applicants, including trying to find them jobs and slots in training programmes. A temporary phone line paid for by the national prisons and probation administration can be installed and offenders are encouraged to ask relatives or friends to help them find housing. Those who cannot afford the 50 kroner a day are exempted from payment.

The tag is fastened around the offender's ankle. A 50-centimetre high electronic transmitter installed at his or her home beams signals to a surveillance centre. If the tag is removed or the offender leaves home, the transmitter immediately triggers an alarm and the centre rings up the offender's home to check for a possible malfunction. If the offender is found to have broken the rules, the tag is withdrawn and the rest of the sentence must be served in prison. But that seldom happens. The study showed that permission to work was suspended for misconduct in only 5 per cent of cases, usually because the offender had been drinking alcohol. Infractions were most common among offenders serving longer sentences.

Tight restrictions on movement

A probation officer draws up a tight schedule that must be rigorously followed. Freedom of movement is strictly limited. Offenders are only allowed to leave home during working hours, except for one hour each Saturday and Sunday. If they are more than ten minutes off schedule, the alarm is set off.

Most of the people who have been electronically tagged say that it's at least as distressing as being in a prison where there is greater freedom of movement. In addition to restrictions on leaving home, total abstinence from the consumption of drugs and alcohol is required. Probation officers make surprise visits at all hours of the day or night, and at these times offenders have to take an alcohol breath test.

"If I didn't have a family," said Jan-Erik Bengtsson, after wearing his tag for a very long week, "I would rather have stayed in jail. I can't even take out the garbage and I feel like I'm always being watched. The breath tests are very demeaning. You don't feel trusted and it's very unpleasant not knowing when the probation officer will show up." But like most people who wear a tag, Mr. Bengtsson still thinks it has some advantages. He can work and continue living at home with his companion and their three children.

Electronic tagging has resulted in much heavier workloads for probation officers, many of whom say they no longer have enough time for their regular duties and believe that prison staff should be responsible for keeping tabs on tagged offenders. They consider themselves overqualified for such tasks - most of them are sociologists with several years of higher education behind them.

But electronic tagging also results in savings. The upkeep cost per offender is approximately 450 kroner a day, two-thirds less than the cost of imprisonment, and several correctional facilities have closed down for lack of inmates. The next step will probably be to include in the programme offenders sentenced to terms of up to four months. The possibility has been raised of extending eligibility to lawbreakers sentenced to up to eleven months, but the authorities prefer to act cautiously so as not to jeopardize the potential of this alternative to imprisonment.

LINDA JOHANSSON is a Swedish journalist.

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