The Alberta government will be introducing a new ankle bracelet monitoring program for high-risk offenders.
“The federal government’s bail policies are failing to keep people safe,” said Alberta Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis in a release to the media on Wednesday. “We are taking an important step toward combatting rising crime, creating safer streets and neighbourhoods and protecting our communities. Ankle bracelet electronic monitoring is another tool in the toolbox for courts to hold high-risk and repeat offenders accountable for their actions while out on bail.”
Under the proposed Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act, 2024, individuals subject to a court-ordered electronic monitoring condition would be required to wear a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device on their ankle. This device would be monitored 24/7 by a centralized monitoring unit within Alberta Correctional Services.
According to the Government of Alberta, ankle bracelet electronic monitoring would, "protect Albertans and communities by helping to secure offender-restricted areas, such as victims’ residences, places of employment or any other area deemed off-limits as part of an individual’s bail or community-release conditions."
Currently, people in Alberta who are subject to provincial community-based court conditions and bail supervision are monitored by staff within Correctional Services, primarily within regular business hours. Once operational, the Alberta ankle bracelet program would provide more supervision of repeat offenders and those on bail who require around-the-clock monitoring as a condition of their community supervision. This program would also align Alberta with jurisdictions across Canada running similar programs.
The government allocated $5.25 million in funding for electronic monitoring through last year’s budget.
Ten Canadian jurisdictions, including British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and the Yukon already operate electronic monitoring programs that use ankle bracelet technologies.
