Israel’s Police Ministry confirmed Tuesday that it is testing a device that allows prisoners to serve their time at home instead of behind bars, thereby relieving overcrowded prison conditions, reducing the damaging effects of detention and saving the state money.
The system, used successfully in parts of the United States, consists of a transmitter, attached to the prisoner’s leg, that sends radio signals to a telephone recorder in the prisoner’s home.
The data are transferred by telephone line to a central computer, allowing authorities to monitor the prisoner’s movements.
The device would be used only for prisoners who are not considered a threat to society.
It would allow a prisoner to hold a job outside the home to support a family, as the device enables automatic transferral of data to a central computer, giving information on the prisoner’s hours of activity outside the home.
Police and prison authorities who have visited the United States to see the system in use were impressed by its performance.
They said it is much cheaper than ordinary incarceration.
The tests are in the preliminary, and more will be required before a recommendation is made whether or not to adopt the system.
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