Toni Stewart: Corrections Chief Probation Officer on the rise in electronically-monitored bails

The rising number of people on electronically-monitored bail is being used to explain a surge in absconders.

Figures released to Newstalk ZB through the Official Information Act show cases of a breach rose from 64 in 2015, to 832 last year.

Corrections Chief Probation Officer Toni Stewart told Heather du Plessis-Allan over the last 10 years the courts have granted more electronically monitored bail. 

She says they report signs of breaches to police, and is assuring the public they have a zero tolerance for non-compliance. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The number of criminals escaping their ankle bracelets is shooting up.
So it was back in twenty fifteen just sixty four
people who did this. Last year eight hundred and thirty two.
Tony Stewart is Correction's chief probation officer and with us Hey, Tony,
sure to Heather. Now, part of the reason it's going
up is because there are more and more people who
have ankle bracelets on am I right?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, I mean yes, it would seem that way. There
has been over the last ten years an increase in
the number of people that have been granted electronically monitored
veil by the courts.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
What are they doing to get out? Are they cutting it?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well? Yeah, a raft of things. I mean, I guess
it goes without saying that. You know, people have landed
themselves in this position because they've either been charged with
or convicted of breaking the law, and as the data
would indicate, there are a group of people who are
determined to circumvent the system and don't want to be

(00:55):
compliant with those conditions.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, and so what happens if they cut it all foil?
It will do something thing like that? What's the punishment?

Speaker 2 (01:02):
So we've got a So the electronically monitored bail works
through a joint service model between Corrections and police. So
at Corrections we have a twenty four to seven team
of dedicated trained staff who work just around electronic monitoring,
and at the time an alert comes through that someone

(01:23):
is tempering or attempting to abscond, that generates an alert
to our team and we are immediately sharing that information
to police.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
But they follow up. This says to me that what
we should if you've got this many people who are
mucking around with their ankle bracelet's what it says to
me is we should not be putting anyone who is
a risk to the public on an ankle bracelet, should
we Well.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Ultimately, the decision as to who is granted electronically monitored
bail or not sits with the courts. We're really focused
on making sure that we do our job, which is
to really carefully and closely monitor their compliance in terms
of the electronic monitoring. And as I say, I MEETI
notifying police when we think that there's evidence that the
tempering or attempting to abscond, totally appreciate the concerns of

(02:07):
the public and absolutely here to assure you that we
have a zero tolerance for non compliance with any of
our sentences or orders, and in this instance the elect
monitoring component of fail. And so again, when we've got
that information to suggest that people are doing that, that's
immediately passed on to police for follow up.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, Tony, thanks very much for your time. Tony Stewart,
Correction's Chief probation Officer.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
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