The question for the Victorian Law Reform Commission is whether such a move would curb the behaviour of the alleged offender rather than forcing victims to curb theirs.
Police cordon off an area of Darwin where an alleged gunman, reportedly wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, was apprehended.
AAP Image/Michael Franchi
Politicians like to appear tough on crime in election years. But Victoria’s move to require youth offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices may not have a real impact.
Migrants from Somalia cross into Canada from the United States by walking down a train track towards Emerson, Manitoba in February 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
Electronically monitoring migrants and refugees may seem like a humane alternative to detention, but it’s rife with problems and still criminalizes would-be immigrants.
Scotland is about to greatly expand its use of tags to have more prisoners serve sentences in their homes and communities.
Electronic monitoring typically involves fitting offenders with tamper-proof bracelets to monitor whether they are abiding by conditions imposed on them.
Flickr/Chris Yarzab
Kathy Laster, Victoria University and Ryan Kornhauser, Victoria University
The days of prison, an 18th-century industrial institution, as the justice system’s dominant form of punishment may be numbered. Electronic monitoring of offenders is one promising alternative.