An article published by Mountain View Voice highlights the efforts of country jails in reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus. County jails are beginning to release inmates in order to help mitigate and comply with health rules amid COVID-19. One such jail, located in Santa Clara County, is placing inmates on involuntary home detention in an effort to reduce the jail population and lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus. The inmates released are those who have committed misdemeanor crimes. The county has purchased 100 extra ankle monitors to accommodate for these inmates being placed on home detention.
In order to comply with health regulations and rules involving social distancing with inmates, the jails need to reduce their numbers significantly. Releasing inmates on electronic monitoring will help with this. The jail is also taking precaution measures by banning all jail visits and instead allowing them to be virtual. Inmates have tested positive and staff members have been exposed, which has resulted in necessary quarantine measures to reduce the spread of an outbreak.
TRACKtech is committed to helping reduce the spread of COVID-19. We know how serious and threatening this virus is to everyone. We hope to be able to help by doing our part in quarantining but also through providing our services. The TRACKphone offers geofencing, so officers are immediately alerted if members are somewhere restricted or not allowed. This can be set up for the parameters of one’s house as inmates are being confined at home. Officers can also set automatic check-ins to ensure their program members are where they are supposed to be, which uses biometric identification, reassuring officers that it is the member and not someone else. Finally, our platform allows case workers to monitor all their program members efficiently and in a timely fashion, helping to keep people safe and socially distant without worrying about former inmates violating their house confinement.