credit, DF Prison Service Secretariat
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- author, Luiz Fernando Toledo
- scroll, From BBC News Brazil in London
Brazil currently has nearly one million people serving prison sentences. Of these, 122,000 are subject to house arrest using electronic monitoring, a number that increases every year.
To give you an idea, in 2016, a decade ago, there were 6,000, according to data from the National Prison Administration Information System (Sisdepen).
As a result, the market for producing ankle bracelets has also boomed, and the sector expects increased production and expansion of technology, with greater ability to store and share information.
Savio Bloomfield, president of Spacecom Monitoramento SA, a company that claims to be responsible for more than 100,000 ankle monitors in 16 states across the country, told BBC News Brasil that cases of attempts to damage equipment are rare, as in the episode involving former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro admitted to using a soldering iron during the early hours of Saturday (11/22) to attempt to break his ankle bracelet. The former president stated that he stopped work on his own initiative, and later reported the incident to the officers responsible for monitoring.
It is worth noting that Spacecom Monitoramento SA is not the same company responsible for the ankle bracelet used by the former president.
“Less than 1% attempt to evade the surveillance system,” Bloomfield said, based on information from the company’s own equipment.
“This will be recorded, it will be in your medical records and you will respond to the court. You will be punished according to the court pursuing the case. I will not try to do that,” he warns.
He said the company has not yet seen cases of ankle bracelets being broken with a soldering iron, although there are other common forms of violations. These cases are always recorded.
“We did receive broken, punctured or cut equipment. But we’ve never had a case where the court asked us and there’s no evidence of what happened to that prisoner. We usually joke that we don’t know the color of a prisoner’s underwear. But the rest he knew, and I know.”
credit, Getty Images
The cost of monitoring is lower
The judicial authority can decide to use electronic ankle bracelets during a criminal investigation or instruction and after conviction.
The idea is that this measure allows, for example, the replacement of temporary detention, preventive measure in cases of domestic violence, temporary exit of those in the semi-open system, and the evolution of the system, when there are no vacancies in appropriate institutions.
Bloomfield believes the increase in usage has to do with the judiciary’s vision of seeking fairer sentences and spending less.
“We have overcrowding. A prisoner costs the state about R$3,000 a month. An ankle bracelet, on average, costs R$260. It’s much cheaper. When a prisoner goes to prison, there is complete turmoil in the person’s family, who is under pressure from the prisoners to take drugs. Or for the prisoners’ family to provide services.”
He says the electronic monitoring system has gained more confidence in recent years.
“The court ended up realizing that, using ankle bracelet technology, it is possible to monitor this person’s punishment. Among the people under surveillance, less than 1% evade monitoring. Some commit crimes, but they are a minority. These numbers have proven to be more economical for the state. Sometimes a person commits a petty theft, a crime, or a new person. So you are able to not let the person into the system, so that he does not become a member of a faction. This is why the success, which has been achieved, grows year after year.”
Few companies offer this service, due to the complexity of monitoring. Brazil represents one of the largest markets: according to a study conducted by the Swedish consulting company Berg Insight with companies in this sector sent to BBC News Brazil, Brazil is more than 85% concentrated in Latin America.
“We are dealing with the criminal system and the judicial system,” says Bloomfield. “It has to follow the rules. I have to provide information to the court five, six, seven years after the case. This requires investments, because the state, when it bids, does not pay immediately, but after the service is provided. It is necessary to make an initial contribution and then get it over time.”
How is monitoring done in practice?
The ankle bracelet emits signals that are picked up by a satellite and allow the precise location of the person being monitored to be determined. The device has a series of sensors to detect if the user is keeping the battery charged or if they have attempted a violation.
The person under supervision must accept visits from probation officers, respond to communications, and comply with any instructions.
You also cannot remove or allow anyone else to remove your ankle bracelet. The user must also keep the battery charged at all times and inform the authorities in case of any malfunction in the device. Another requirement is to respect the circulation zone allowed by the courts – not every person being monitored needs to stay at home.
“We work alongside the state,” says Bloomfield. “The state has its central office. But our central office also monitors and reports any violations. We contact the correctional facility, send an email and message in the system itself. Everything is done online.”
He says the most common type of attempt to break an ankle bracelet is by cutting equipment, which can cause the signal to be interrupted and alert authorities to the violation.
“There are all kinds of holes: there are people who have watched, there are people who are digging. I cannot comment specifically on Bolsonaro’s case, because it is from another company, but if it is our equipment, if the metal equipment comes close to the ankle bracelet, it will be possible to detect it. If there is an increase in temperature, it will be possible to detect it. If it is punctured or hit, then that too.”
Is tampering with the ankle bracelet “box” an attempt to disable the GPS?
One of the factors that attracted attention in the case of former President Bolsonaro’s attempt to break the ankle bracelet is that the soldering iron was used on the equipment box itself, and not on the belt.
“I don’t know his psychological state there. Some people say he panicked. Since we haven’t seen the equipment, it’s difficult to comment. There are many videos on the Internet that teach how to remove this or that.” (from anklets). “But the moment it’s removed, there’s a violation,” Bloomfield says.
“There are those who remove the box, and those who remove the belt. We had a case in São Paulo, in 2012 or 2013, where a prisoner went to a technical assistance company (to try to unlock the device). The police went there and arrested the prisoner and the technician. When we view the medical record with the resulting information, it is evidence for the court. “The equipment is like a time clock, but it contains a lot more information.”
He says that in addition to the physical breach of equipment, there have also been attempts to hack into the company’s systems and access information on the devices.
Although it admits there is no tamper-proof equipment, the manufacturer says that information about tampering will always be recorded.
“It will be in your medical record and you will answer to the court. You will be punished according to the court analyzing the case. I will not try to do that. Whether it is a broken bracelet or a violation of the case, that will be recorded and sent to the court.”