Community-based corrections offer alternatives to the criminal justice policy of placing more and more people in incarceration for longer periods of time. One of the more recent and fast-growing alternatives to incarceration is home confinement. Home confinement refers to requiring an offender to remain within their residence. Normally there are electronic bracelets on the offender's ankle. If the offenders leave their home for any reason an officer is notified and that offender risks arrest and being placed back in jail.
An Orlando man was awaiting his May trial and was placed on home confinement. He was not supposed to leave his house without permission. Court records showed he was anything but confined. During the 10 weeks he was out of jail the bracelet showed 109 notifications regarding a curfew alert. On the eve of his trial, the Orlando man gunned down three people. He killed a nineteen year old man and wounded two others. Records show he was out of the house nearly 5 hours before the crime took place. Currently, it is unclear whether anyone in the criminal-justice system knew where the individual was, what he was doing, or if anyone tried to prevent him from violating his home confinement. Jail officials found no information regarding the man’s field officer and home-confinement officer taking steps to find out why he was out of his house several times overnight.
This man was among 250 defendants monitored daily by a team of three case managers and six field officers who track curfew alerts and violations. On average each field officer has about 24 defendants they are monitoring. Officials are watching over so many inmates that it is difficult to monitor every single one of them. Mistakes may be made on both ends because of the shear volume of people.
Home confinement is used in order to keep certain people out of prison to lessen the problem of overcrowding. It is common while people are waiting for trial to be placed in a program like home confinement. Home confinement can be beneficial for most who participate in the program. At the same time home confinement does not work for many others involved which is why officials are watching over the program.