The Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) welcomes and supports the introduction of electronic monitoring measures as announced by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
AFPA President Alex Caruana said that the AFPA had long been calling for the introduction of electronic monitoring of recidivist and serial offenders, including those committing family violence offences.
“The Chief Minister’s announcement means that the ACT will follow measures already introduced in other jurisdictions. We hope that electronic monitoring provisions are introduced quickly, given that the ACT government has already completed a number of feasibility studies.
“The ACT Government shouldn’t need to over-think this. Use the experience of New South Wales, Tasmania, and other jurisdictions that have already introduced this technology and follow their lead. It makes sense that the ACT and New South Wales system be compatible with each other, given that the ACT sits within NSW.
“An additional benefit will be that the ACT Government is able to learn from the jurisdictions that already use this technology. The ‘lessons learned’ previously should mean that the introduction of electronic monitoring in the ACT is a smooth one without any unforeseen complications,” Mr Caruana said.
The AFPA is calling on all sides of ACT politics to agree to implement electronic monitoring.
Mr Caruana said that protecting victims, vulnerable people, and the community was the most important consideration.
“While the introduction of electronic monitoring has come about due to the current prevalence of family violence, it has many other applications.
“It’s important that we remember why this initiative is important – it’s about protecting victims and the community. For too long in the ACT, the rights of alleged offenders have been placed above those of victims and the community.
“Electronic monitoring of alleged offenders has the potential to save lives. The technology allows for the creation of ‘exclusion zones’ that trigger an alarm if the alleged offender enters that zone. Currently, if a person on bail has conditions to not be in a certain location, unless they are witnessed or police can prove they were at that location, it’s hard to arrest that person for a breach of bail.
“Under an electronic monitoring regime, if a person enters a zone that their bail conditions clearly state they can’t enter and the monitoring alarm is activated as a result, then this serves as direct evidence of a breach of bail. Police will be able to rely on the data obtained by the monitoring device to pursue and prove a breach of bail has occurred.
“Electronic monitoring can also be employed to monitor people with a curfew as a bail condition. Authorities will be able to check that a person is complying with their bail conditions with the click of a few buttons. This is less resource intensive for authorities tasked with bail compliance checks, which currently require someone to physically attend a location and check that the person is actually there,” Mr Caruana said.
For comments: AFPA Media and Government Relations Manager – Mr Troy Roberts – 02 6265 1788 –
media@afpa.org.au
