-Two intensive care professionals comfort each other in the ICU of a hospital in Cremona, Italy, on Friday, March 13, 2020.Paolo Miranda
We live in uncertain times. Governments are in uncharted territory and struggling to balance medical imperatives with public safety. Prisons, next to seniors housing facilities, are proving to be hot spots of Corona Virus infection. In recent days we have seen a flood of news stories outlining two major challenges during the Covid-19 crisis: US states are releasing inmates by the thousands due to the COVID 19; the other is the need to ensure people are following quarantine orders, social distancing and other protocols in order to flatten the curve of infection.
The temporary release of inmates has raised serious concerns within the general public. Releasing inmates at record speed with virtually no way to monitor them at a time when police and other services are being brought into the fight against COVID 19 is rightly causing concern.
’In the past week, judges from coast to coast have ordered thousands of inmates released — both those detained before trial and convicted inmates’’. (Francescani et al, 26/03/2020 ABC News)
Advocates in Canada are also calling for the release of inmates as it is expected that COVID 19 would spread catastrophically through correctional facilities (Germano, 26/03/2020, Global News). In addition, Canadian Senator Kim Pate has also called for the release of non-violent inmates due to the inability to achieve the hygiene standards and social distancing that is required to protect the inmates from the virus. (Krause, 28/03/2020, Global News). The Criminal Trial Lawyers Association and the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Calgary have also called upon the Alberta government to implement creative solutions to reduce the number of those currently in jail.
“We call upon those who are responsible for prisoners in Alberta to immediately implement creative solutions to reduce the number of individuals who are serving jail sentences or are remanded while presumed innocent’. A letter from the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association” (Bench, 24/03/2020, Global News)
As civilized liberal democracies we need to ensure that we have the ability to protect those that are incarcerated, while still providing a level of supervision for the safety of our communities. Nash Technologies Inc along with our strategic technology partners, believe we have the solution to this dilemma in the patented Shepherd smartphone monitoring application. It allows for those who have been released to be effectively monitored by parole officers forgoing the need to face-to-face check-ins while maintaining positive control of the whereabouts and activities of inmates on temporary release.
The system allows for the added protection of women and children as inmates on release who are subject to restraining orders can have their locations monitored and have alerts set up should they violate such orders. Victims will have some peace of mind knowing their recently released former abuser is not outside their home or outside of their place of employment..
Those affected by crimes can have limited anonymous access to offender’s location as a condition of release. (Text-based)
US courts in several US states had started to sentence people to the Shepherd system and have provided great reviews. NTI wants to bring this economical solution to both Canadian and US jurisdictions during this time of crisis. This system will not only provide a way to monitor inmates who have been released due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but the system’s cost is equivalent to two days of incarceration in most jurisdictions; 36 hours for Canadian inmates. This will provide massive cost savings at a time of tremendous economic uncertainty.
NTI with their American partners are offering the Shepherd system at a drastically reduced cost so it can be utilized to monitor those under quarantine orders reducing stress on already stretched resources.
The Canadian government has recently implemented an Emergency Order under the Quarantine Act that requires any person entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days whether or not they have symptoms. It was stated that spot checks will be implemented. NTI can assist law enforcement agencies to conduct these spot checks to ensure people are quarantined in their homes without the requirement for physical spot checks, reducing risk of infection to police officers and those under quarantine orders and freeing up police officers for other tasks. In addition, having an ability to ensure those who have been placed under quarantine are in fact following the directives, will assist in controlling the outbreaks, allowing for life to return to normal within a shorter timeline. The system does not take any passport, drivers license or social insurance information. The system holds the same information most people keep on their Facebook .
Summary of Benefits
Covid-19 Quarantine Monitoring
- The system will help stem the spread of Covid-19 as it will help to ensure quarantine orders are being followed.
- The system will allow for one officer to effectively monitor potentially 150-200 people at a time. This will allow for far less strain on our police resources during a time when officers are being placed under quarantine themselves.
- The system allows for authorities to focus on the most problematic and those who are non-complaint for quarantine orders.
- The system will provide huge cost savings as compared to having the police conducting house checks to ensure people are adhering to their quarantine order.
- Provides the ability to quickly determine the number of people currently under quarantine orders, number of quarantine orders that have been completed and the rate of violations.
Corrections
- The system allows our justice system to release low risk inmates in response to the Covid-19 crisis, while ensuring these individuals are still being supervised.
- The system can provide restrictions through geofencing on clients so they can go from home to work and or other required appointments.
- As court appearance and other critical information is sent through the system, which requires a biometric signature, there will be confirmation vital court information has been received by the client.
- With the third-party feature in the system, the system promotes the safety of women and children as women will have peace of mind knowing their recently released abuser is not hanging around their work or home.
- The correctional monitoring system for a month is the cost of approximately one day of incarceration in a Canadian correctional facility and two days in an American facility, providing tremendous cost savings at a time of economic uncertainty.
We will continue to engage various US and Canadian governments in order to encourage them to utilize affordable technological solutions for the safety and health of our communities. We encourage you to share and like this blog in order to help us get this message out to the various governments while we can still make a difference. Now is not the time for politics, but the time for providing solutions!
’The federal government is deploying the Quarantine Act in the fight against COVID-19, imposing mandatory self-isolation rules for any traveler returning to Canada with fines and even jail time for those who break the rules’’. Russel, 26/03/2020. Global News
Bench, A. 24 March 2020. ‘Alberta lawyers’ groups call for changes to prison system, early releases amid COVID-19’. Global News https://globalnews.ca/news/6727714/prison-covid-19-measures-alberta/
Krause, K. 28 March 2020. ‘Coronavirus: Canadian Senator calls for immediate release of inmates to curb COVID-19’. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6743945/coronavirus-canadian-senator-release-inmates-covid-19/
Francescani et al, 24/03/2020. ‘Releases, infections, fear: U.S. coronavirus crisis in jails and prisons looms’. ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/US/releases-infections-fear-us-coronavirus-crisis-jails-prisons/story?id=69803066
Newport, A. 26 March 2020. .Here are the penalties you could face if you violate a COVID-19 quarantine order in Canada’. inBampton News https://www.inbrampton.com/here-are-the-penalties-you-could-face-if-you-violate-a-covid-19-quarantine-order-in-canada
David Rider, 1 April 2020. ‘I am deeply concerned’: Toronto imposes mandatory COVID-19 quarantine rules for at least 12 weeks’ The Star https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2020/04/01/mandatory-quarantine-ordered-for-torontonians-with-covid-19-or-who-had-close-contact-with-anyone-infected.html
