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The Province of Manitoba is expected to roll out a new GPS monitoring system, aimed at curbing repeat parole violations and bolstering public safety province-wide.
The new program, introduced under the recently announced public safety strategy, broadens the ambit of the electronic monitoring program to include Brandon and other municipalities. It is currently used by law enforcement only in Winnipeg, where ankle monitors are used for some repeat offenders. The program will place a particular emphasis on repeat violent offenders.
Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates said on Monday it was too early to confirm the launch of the program, but welcomed the move in view of the city’s worsening crime statistics.
“I’m waiting for details myself from the province with regard to the implementation — what it will look like, and how it is going to be rolled out locally.”
The program’s rollout is expected to be unified across the province to ensure simultaneous implementation. An update will be provided once more details are known, Bates added.
Brandon has seen a gradual increase in violations pertaining to court orders and release conditions for a third consecutive year, as per data released last month. The number of such cases has risen by over 33 per cent since 2021 to 1,770 year-to-date. It has more than doubled since 2010. Listed under the “other Criminal Code offences,” category, parole violations include breach of probation, failure to comply with bail conditions, and failure to appear in court.
A similar spike had prompted the initial implementation of ankle monitors in Winnipeg, prompting acting Winnipeg police Chief Art Stannard to point to a direct correlation between lawlessness in the city and parole violations.
“The Winnipeg Police Service is concerned with the number of people who choose to breach the conditions of their release,” Stannard said in August. “Twenty per cent of arrested persons in Winnipeg are on bail, probation or parole, and more than 80 per cent of the arrests made by the Manitoba Integrated Violent Offender Apprehension Unit involve persons who are on some type of release. These are alarming numbers. We are hopeful that this tool will help hold people accountable to their release conditions. The public expects this.”
Winnipeg recorded 3,645 instances of “offences against the administration of law and justice” in 2023. These included charges, such as, failing to comply with court orders, failing to comply with conditions of release, and probation orders.
Christopher Schneider, a professor with the Faculty of Sociology at Brandon University, and who teaches a criminal justice program, said the new monitoring program could have negative implications for rehabilitation efforts aimed at criminal offenders released on parole. It also fails to address the root cause of a crime, he told the Sun.
“There is a whole pile of research literature in the surveillance study scholarship that tells us cameras and other technological solutions do not deter or stop bad actors or bad behavior,” said Schneider. “Ankle monitors are just another extension of state surveillance, and if we slap ankle bracelets on [people] who are repeat offenders of whatever the offence is, that is not going to address the underlying conditions.”
He also suggested investing more in drug rehabilitation centres, affordable housing, job opportunities and job training, and other events aimed at rehabilitating offenders into the community instead. Using ankle monitors can increase stigma and prevent positive behavioural changes. However, he did not rule out their effectiveness in some cases.
At the time of its introduction in August, the province did not specify how frequently monitors would be used, but said it would target repeat offenders in violent and retail crimes.
It is also still unclear what type of technology will be used under the program. The ankle monitor currently used by the Winnipeg police uses GPS and is equipped with technology that allows auditory and sensory communication with the offender. The device can also sound alerts if the offender enters an area they are banned from, and allows for round-the-clock notifications to be sent to law enforcement on the person’s physical whereabouts.
The program was initially introduced in Winnipeg to protect businesses that were being repeatedly targeted. “Repeat, prolific and often violent offenders are a major concern for many businesses. Having these same offenders released and returning to the same businesses day after day to reoffend is disheartening,” Rui Rodrigues from the Retail Council of Canada said at the time.
The program has also received wide support from law enforcement, a spokesperson said. It figures among the bail reform recommendations put forward by the National Police Federation in 2023. Additional recommendations include a review of policies to prevent repeat offences and ensure court appearances, as well as a program that provides more information to lawmakers determining bail conditions.
Commenting on the program at the time, Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation, said it would help boost morale and well-being among the law enforcement ranks.
The reality of catch-and-release, he said, also poses a risk to the safety of police and the public.
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