Texas County Electronically Tracks Juveniles

Although juvenile delinquency rates have decreased somewhat in recent years, nationwide statistics are still high - juvenile delinquent caseloads in 2004 were four times more than in 1960, according to the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

However, Texas has invested heavily to counteract juvenile crimes. In 2007, Gov. Rick Perry allocated $2.8 million to juvenile accountability programs in several counties, including Hale County, to improve services.

To combat its juvenile delinquency problem, Hale County implemented electronic GPS monitoring devices to track juvenile delinquents in real time, 24/7.

The Solution
In May 2007, Hale County deployed an offender monitoring system from Omnilink Systems, a location-based services provider in Alpharetta, Ga., which utilizes GPS and cellular signals to zero in on offenders. The device, coupled with FocalPoint 2.0 software, lets probation officers keep tabs on juvenile delinquents and help keep them out of trouble.

Probation officers can assign various parameters, such as mobile inclusionary and exclusionary zones - places kids are and aren't allowed to be - and designate time frames when they are supposed to be at home or in school.

Eddie Subealdea, Hale County's chief probation officer, said his department uses the offender monitoring system to ensure that kids aren't violating court orders and curfew or ditching school. "Omnilink has a Web site that you can go to and track them," he said. "If you're at the computer, you know exactly where the kids are."

For example, if an offender burglarized a house on X Street and he or she is within 300 feet of that premise, a probation officer can be alerted immediately via e-mail or cell phone, at which point the delinquent could be taken into custody. In other cases, a juvenile might be warned to stay away from a location or find an alternate route to wherever he or she needs to go.

"You can set up how you want to do it," Subealdea said. "If the probation officers want to be notified immediately, the tracking center will call the officers and let them know on their cell phones. If the probation officer just wants to know of any violations by e-mail, then they can do that as well."

The one-piece device is easy to use and can be installed in as little as five minutes. Previously, slower landline tracking systems required probation officers to go to an offender's house, set up the unit, make sure it worked, and call the tracking center to ensure that it was up and running. With the new system, tracking begins once it has been activated and gives precise details, unlike landlines that only let probation officers know if the person is at home or within a certain range.

Subealdea said the system is hassle-free. "You put it on in the office and set it on the computer. And the minute the kids leave, it's tracking them."

In addition to receiving an eagle-eyed view on the children, which won over Subealdea, probation officers can also view the device's battery levels on their computers and notify kids that they need to charge the battery.

Cost Benefits
Currently 11 children from ages 12 to 16 have been ordered by the court to wear the devices. Their offenses vary from truancy to sexual assault, and they are tracked 24/7.
The initial cost was only $275 for the entire project, and it costs the probation department from $4.50 to $10 daily to monitor the children. However, the exact cost depends on how often a probation officer is alerted, Subealdea explained.