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“There is no way to initiate contact with the juvenile without the sound and vibration,” Milhizer wrote in the email. The ReliAlert device is supposed to play an audible, three-note sound when an electronic monitoring official is calling and then play another three notes when the call ends. Sarah Staudt, senior policy analyst and staff attorney for Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice The idea that an adult can turn on a listening device while a child is, say, in the bathroom or in their bedroom is not good. In response to questions from The Appeal about privacy concerns over the recordings, Milhizer said Friday that “in an abundance of caution,” the Cook County Office of the Chief Judge would be instructing Track Group “to disable the recording capabilities of the system-pending a review to determine if recordings should be used to ensure both quality assurance and that there is a record indicating that all uses of the devices are in compliance with the law.” Officials in Cook County have access to the files and can use them however they choose, including in the course of criminal investigations, AJ Gigler, vice president of marketing and product management at Track Group, told The Appeal.
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“The goal of the devices is to support the successful completion of electronic monitoring.”Īll calls made through the new devices are recorded, time-stamped, and archived, and are stored on Track Group’s servers for 18 months, according to its contract with Cook County. “These communications allow the juvenile to remain in compliance with court-ordered electronic monitoring to avoid further arrest and/or detention,” he wrote in the email. To the court’s knowledge, no probation officer has used the device in violation of the law, Milhizer said in an emailed statement, explaining that the communications feature is used “to inform the juvenile if the battery is low or that he or she entered an exclusionary zone where there is somebody or a place they must avoid.” But Pat Milhizer, the director of communications for the office of the chief judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, said the county would now review concerns about privacy. The devices were also selected because of their built-in communication, as some children on probation are difficult to reach by phone. The wearer can press a button on the device to reach the monitoring center, but there is no way to decline an incoming call.Ĭook County officials said juvenile probation began using the new devices in February because of their extended battery life and more secure band. The devices, known as ReliAlert XC3, have two-way communication capabilities that allow both electronic monitoring officers at the criminal court and employees at Track Group’s monitoring center to call an individual wearing a monitor at any time. In January, Cook County, home of Chicago, awarded a contract to the electronic monitoring company Track Group, which will lease 275 ankle monitors to keep tabs on children awaiting trial. “The idea that an adult can turn on a listening device while a child is, say, in the bathroom or in their bedroom is not good.” “I can’t quite even start down the parade of horribles in terms of all the ways this could be a problem,” said Sarah Staudt, senior policy analyst and staff attorney for Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and a former juvenile defense attorney in Cook County. The stated purpose of these devices is to communicate with the children, but they are raising concerns among civil liberties watchers that they are actually a mechanism for surveilling the conversations of these kids and those around them-and potentially for using the recordings in criminal cases. Shawn, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, is one of hundreds of children in Chicago whose ankle monitors are now equipped with microphones and speakers. We could be here talking about anything.” “I feel like they are listening to what he’s saying,” said Shawn’s mother. They would also be able to speak-and listen-to him. But he found out that through his monitor, officers wouldn’t just be able to track his location, as most electronic monitors do. He was told he would have to be given permission to leave his house, even to go to school. They explained that the device would need to be charged for two hours a day and that it would track his movements using GPS technology.
CAN I OWN ARGUS MONITOR IN CHICAGO TRIAL
On March 29, court officials in Chicago strapped an ankle monitor onto Shawn, a 15-year-old awaiting trial on charges of armed robbery. This story was co-published with Citylab.