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| About MOPS | | | Minister of Public Security |  | | | Director General | | | | Agencies | | | | Vision | | | | Legislation | | | | Policy | | | | Structure | | | | Internal Auditing | |  | MOPS - a closer look | |
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| EM : Conclusions and improvements |
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| On this page, you can find a list of conclusions and and the fields in which they are being applied. |
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- Generally, the EM system appears to be operating as planned and expected, and the number of alerts is appropriate for the trial run. The program's directorate deals with these alerts while continuing to operate the program, and carries out all necessary corrections in real time for all aspects of the program: operational issues, adjustment of the program's operating protocol, the work of the program's main offices, improvement of work procedures, etc.
- Number of referrals - One topic that must be addressed is the number of referrals for electronic monitoring. Apparently, in the program's planning, we overestimated the number of detainees/inmates we expected would be referred by authorized agencies for EM. We are making efforts to encourage the use of EM by these agencies. It should be stressed as well that, as of mid-January 2006, the program has been expanded to include inmates released on parole. So far, parole boards have referred three inmates to EM.
- Types of offenses - Another issue is the type of offenses for which the judicial system refers people for EM. The range of offenses for which accused persons are referred to the program is extremely wide and includes even serious offenses, such as family violence, sex crimes (including rape), robbery (including armed robbery), and drug trafficking. It can be said here that the severity of some of the offenses for which persons are referred to EM is higher than what was anticipated in the planning stage of the program. Nevertheless, even those charged with severe offenses have complied with the program's conditions.
- Selection of candidates - An additional statistic that should be noted from the results of our follow-up work is that the courts carefully select their candidates for EM. Although the persons referred to EM include those accused of violent crimes, they have accepted the discipline and regime of the “curfew” imposed upon them by the judicial system.
- Juveniles - Special attention should be directed toward the relatively high percentage of juveniles being monitored electronically. This appears to be a positive trend because research studies indicate that, if the requirements of the law and the circumstances of the offense permit, it is preferable, for the juvenile's future, to distance him or her from the law enforcement system. Should the trend of preferring EM for juveniles continue and even intensify, this development could have a significant impact on the program, especially on the social service support provided by the juvenile probation service.
- Compliance - The statistics show that, in most cases, the monitored individuals comply with the EM regime's requirements. The electronic alert system for the detection of violations has proven to be very sensitive and responds to every suspected violation. In most cases, it can be pointed out, the many alerts received for suspected violations are generally due, as noted above, to technical and administrative reasons. Furthermore, the definition of a “gross violation” can be interpreted in various ways. Apparently, the law enforcement system – primarily, the police stations and the courts of law – does not regard these violations as serious and is in no hurry to apply sanctions to monitored individuals who have committed violations detected by the alert center. At this stage at least, the decision to avoid harsh responses has proven to be correct, nor does this policy appear to have a negative effect on the monitored individuals. However, should this trend continue, there is the danger that the number of monitored individuals committing violations could increase and that the violations could become more severe in nature. We therefore recommend that the courts respond more resolutely to chronic violations and even instruct that persons who consistently fail to comply with the EM regime's requirements be placed in detention until the end of the legal proceedings in their case.
- Consistency - Apparently, involvement in the EM program varies widely from one police station to the next. At this stage, the general impression is that the police stations, which are in charge of the EM program in the field, do not consider it a high priority item. Apparently, the police personnel in the field have not yet begun to fully appreciate the program's importance. The response of the police to violations is sporadic and slow. The appointment of personnel in the various police stations specifically responsible for EM has increased awareness of the program in the field. However, this is apparently not enough. The police should itself make the commanders of police stations more aware of the program's importance. Responsibility for increasing awareness of EM should not be left solely in the hands of the program's directorate.
- Awareness - We have also detected a low level of awareness among the personnel of detention centers and police officers responsible for escorting candidates for EM. Here as well, those persons responsible for EM in the Israel Police and the Israel Prison Service should step up their training efforts and must promote greater awareness of the program's importance.
- Contractor - The security company operating the EM program appears effective in its various areas of responsibility: installation, monitoring and removal. Whenever operational problems arise, they are solved through direct contact between the company and the operational wing of the program's directorate. Nonetheless, there are still several areas where improvements are needed, such as computerization and periodic reporting.
- Probation Service - Regarding the Probation Service within the Ministry of Social Affairs – one of the partners in the program – the following should be noted:
a) Considering the relatively large number of juveniles referred to EM, special importance must be attached to the social service support offered by the juvenile probation service, which has shown itself to be effective in the program's implementation.
b) The same cannot be said for the adult probation service. For various reasons connected primarily with the tender's administrative arrangements and the operating budget and timetable, the Ministry Social Affairs has not begun the external activation of social service support. Today, monitored adults are not provided any social service support. This problem is being worked on at present. Immediate attention should be given so that the situation can be rectified without any further delay.
- Directorate - The program's directorate, headed by the Ministry of Public Security's Bureau of the Chief Scientist, routinely deals with the overall implementation of the program, holds weekly discussions on the program and issues directives related to its operation. The unit in the directorate that operates the system has a very heavy workload and is responsible for many tasks, some of which are not in its area of jurisdiction. Furthermore, the unit lacks the tools and resources needed for dealing with the various tasks it has undertaken. Concerning this matter, the following points should be noted:
a) There is a need for reconsidering whether responsibility for the program's operation should not be placed in the hands of another unit in the Ministry of Public Security, which would be a new operational agency and would either be autonomous or would rely on support from Metzila (the Ministry’s Division of Community and Crime Prevention). The Bureau of the Chief Scientist has spearheaded the program's initiation, planning, preparatory stages, and launching. Furthermore, since the program's launching, the Bureau has been responsible for the program's promotion, administration, implementation and ongoing operation, as well as for the evaluative research accompanying the program's implementation. Nevertheless, the Bureau lacks even the minimal tools needed for long-term operational activities.
b) In any event, there is the long-term need for an examination of organization and methods regarding the missions and the organizational structure of the agency that will be assigned responsibility for the program's implementation. At this stage, it appears that the present operational agency, which is of limited scope and which lacks the necessary tools for carrying out its functions, has undertaken several secondary tasks in line with its perception that places – and to a great extent, this is justified – high priority on assistance in the program's operation and promotion. The operational agency's extensive involvement also stems from the fact that the other bodies which are partners in the program's operation are not sufficiently involved in its implementation and have thus left a vacuum waiting to be filled. |
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לגרסת הדפסה |
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