by Selwyn Manning

Auckland security firm Chubb has won a $6.5 million contract to manage the Corrections Department’s new electronic anklet home prisoner scheme.

From October, prisoners convicted of crimes with a prison term of two years or less will be considered for home detention. This may include all or part of their sentence being served at home.

The electronic anklet will send a warning to Chubb if it is removed from the prisoner’s ankle or if the prisoner leaves the home.

Offenders facing sentences longer than two years will be eligible for home detention three months before their first eligible parole date.

The Corrections Department plans to have 300 prisoners on home detention by June next year. Serious violent offenders will not be eligible.

The home prisoner scheme will initially be limited to major urban areas but will likely involve smaller towns next year. smaller centres might be included next year.

The scheme is expected to save thousands of dollars on the cost of keeping someone in prison each year.

The anklet system has the ability to gather, analyse and act on information from a number of sources. It has a tamper-resistant, waterproof electronic anklet would be worn by a prisoner. The prisoner’s home would be fitted with a "smart monitoring" unit, which would collect and act on information from the anklet.

Any violations of home detaining conditions would be alerted to Chubb Security. Chubb would then send a security officer to investigate.

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