GPS Monitoring and Domestic Violence: How Moving Exclusion Zones Help Protect Victims
Domestic violence cases can present a unique challenge for courts, law enforcement agencies, and monitoring professionals. A traditional protection order establishes clear boundaries, but enforcing those boundaries becomes more difficult when both the protected individual and the monitored participant are moving throughout the community.
GPS monitoring technology can provide an additional layer of information and accountability. Today’s systems can do more than simply show where a monitored individual has been. Certain solutions can establish moving exclusion zones, helping monitoring agencies identify when a participant comes within a predetermined distance of a protected individual.
What Is a Moving Exclusion Zone?
A traditional GPS exclusion zone is generally established around a fixed location. Depending on the conditions of supervision, that could include a protected person’s home, workplace, school, or another location the monitored participant has been ordered to avoid.
A moving exclusion zone takes that concept further.
Instead of being tied to a single address, the exclusion zone can move with the protected individual. The system compares the location of the monitored participant with the location of the protected person and can generate notifications when established proximity limits are breached.
This provides an important advantage in domestic violence monitoring because protection is not limited to a handful of predetermined locations.
Providing Greater Awareness Throughout the Day
A protected individual may travel to work, visit family, shop, attend appointments, pick up children, or simply go about everyday life. Fixed exclusion zones alone cannot account for every place that person may visit.
Victim-focused GPS technology can help agencies maintain greater awareness as both individuals move throughout the community.
Depending on the monitoring solution and how a program is configured, notifications may be generated when the monitored participant approaches or enters an established exclusion area. This can provide monitoring personnel and, with certain systems, the protected individual with additional information when a potential proximity violation occurs.
GPS technology has been used in domestic violence programs specifically to support enforcement of court-ordered no-contact provisions and exclusion zones.
Combining Participant Tracking With Victim-Focused Technology
ERA Monitoring offers domestic violence monitoring solutions designed to combine GPS participant monitoring with technology specifically intended for protected individuals.
One option is the Buddi Smart Tag GPS with Victim Clip.
The Buddi Clip is a discreet GPS-enabled device that can be carried in a pocket or purse or attached to a keychain. When paired with an associated Smart Tag wearer, the system can create a moving exclusion zone around the protected individual. The device also includes features such as integrated GPS, two-way voice communication, and an optional panic button.
ERA also offers the Omnilink OM500 with the Advocate Victim App for domestic violence monitoring.
The Advocate solution uses a protected individual’s smartphone in combination with the location information generated by the monitored participant’s GPS device. The system can create a mobile exclusion zone that moves as the protected individual moves and can provide notifications when predetermined proximity parameters are met.
Supporting Accountability With Better Location Information
GPS monitoring does not replace law enforcement, court orders, victim advocacy, or an individual safety plan. It is another tool agencies can use to support supervision and provide valuable location information.
Modern GPS monitoring can help programs:
Monitor participant location and movement
Establish fixed exclusion zones around prohibited locations
Create moving exclusion zones around protected individuals with compatible systems
Identify potential proximity violations
Provide alerts based on configured program rules
Maintain location information that may assist supervising personnel
Research into GPS supervision in domestic violence cases has examined these technologies as a way to monitor compliance with court-ordered restrictions and no-contact provisions.
The Importance of Choosing the Right Monitoring Solution
Not every domestic violence monitoring program has the same requirements.
Courts, agencies, monitoring companies, and bail professionals may have different procedures, staffing requirements, notification protocols, and supervision goals.
Selecting the right technology means considering not only the GPS device worn by the participant, but also how information is communicated and how potential violations are handled.
ERA Monitoring works with organizations that are starting electronic monitoring programs, expanding existing programs, or searching for new monitoring solutions.
Our available technology includes GPS monitoring, domestic violence monitoring solutions, alcohol monitoring, and house arrest equipment designed to support compliance, accountability, and public safety.
Learn More About Domestic Violence GPS Monitoring
Technology continues to give monitoring professionals better tools for understanding where monitored participants are and whether court-ordered geographic restrictions are being followed.
For domestic violence cases, moving exclusion zones add an important capability by allowing proximity monitoring to extend beyond a protected person’s home or workplace.
If your organization is considering starting or expanding a domestic violence GPS monitoring program, Electronic Resource Associates (ERA Monitoring) can help you explore available equipment and determine which solution best fits your program.
Contact ERA Monitoring today to learn more about our GPS and domestic violence monitoring solutions.
