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Monitoring device's use questioned Pittsburgh Post Gazette

09.12.09

An electronic monitoring device strapped to the ankle of a man charged with killing Penn Hills police officer Michael Crawshaw could not have prevented the crime, nor was it designed to, say experts in parole and probation.

The electronic anklet, commonly worn by offenders who are under court supervision or on parole, can show a parole agent when a convict has left his home, but cannot track his location, raising questions about the purpose and effectiveness of the device in the wake of the Sunday night double homicide.

Citing privacy concerns, Leo Dunn, a spokesman for the state board of probation and parole, would not discuss why Ronald Robinson, 32, of Homewood, was placed on electronic monitoring nor would he specify his curfew restrictions, which were given to him as a condition of his parole from prison in August 2007.

Mr. Robinson was one of about 240 state parolees -- retail thieves, drug offenders, murderers -- wearing one of the black transmitters, about the size of a cigarette pack, around their ankles so agents can see whether they routinely violate curfew. Experts on the state and county levels say they work because most parolees who wear them complete the supervision program do not commit new crimes.

"It's not the equipment that does not work, it does what it is supposed to do," said Allegheny County's probation director, Jim Rieland. "But you're dealing with human behavior. If someone wants to walk out of their house and go do something stupid, there is nothing in terms of electronic monitoring that is going to stop them from doing it."

On the county level, there are as many as 1,200 people wearing anklets on a given day, ordered to do so by a judge, usually as part of sentencing, Mr. Rieland said. The vast majority are DUI offenders.

The anklet communicates with an in-home device that is attached to a phone line, which sends alerts to a computer screen at an electronic monitoring office in Castle Shannon. Authorities watch the screen around the clock, Mr. Rieland said. When an offender breaks curfew, a staff member first calls his house to see if he is home. If still uncertain, a probation officer might visit the offender's home, and can get an arrest warrant if it is clear the person is not home.

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