First there's the actual monitoring device itself. It’s a GPS bracelet, capable of reporting a detainee’s position with the same accuracy of a car navigation system. The GPS device is screwed into the bracelet with a specialized tool, then the screws are sealed with tamper-evident tape. Finally, a device inside the bracelet will alert authorities if anyone tries to remove it.
“It’s clear if you cut this off, you’re tampering with the equipment,” says Carmen Ruffin, executive director of the sheriff’s office’s Community Corrections program. “The GPS bracelet is emitting information every minute.”
Watching of all those detainees is a multi-step process. The first layer is Track Group, a private monitoring company which works out of a headquarters in the Chicago suburbs. It’s the first spot where any abnormalities, ranging from detainees with low batteries, to strap tampering, to an inmate leaving his home without permission, will be detected.