Bridging the Gap: Mitigating Risk and Preserving Victim Safety

Abstract

As a form of supervision, electronic monitoring is often sought after as a condition of pretrial release within the Office of Pretrial Services. This study examined electronic monitoring as it relates to domestic violence. More specifically, this study examined electronic monitoring as a condition of pretrial release within the Office of Pretrial Services. This quantitative study aimed to assess the effectiveness of electronic monitoring of domestic violence cases in the pretrial arena. Utilizing the specific deterrence theory, quasi-experimental research design, and prosperity score matching, the study provides matched sample comparisons between a “treatment” group, defendants placed on electronic monitoring, and a “control” group of similar pretrial defendants not placed on electronic monitoring. The study examined the differences between pretrial misconduct outcomes between those released with electronic monitoring as an added condition of pretrial release and those released on supervision without electronic monitoring. The results showed that the use of electronic monitoring technology, gender, ethnicity, and age did not have a significant effect on the odds of observing defendants whether they fail or succeed to appear during the pretrial period, whether they committed new criminal activity before case disposition or not, and whether they committed technical violations during the pretrial period or not.