A Preliminary Investigation into the Effects of a GPS Monitoring System on Pretrial Probationer Success

• In Event: Innovative Programming and Analysis within Community Corrections

Abstract

Thus far, there have only been a handful of studies that examine GPS pretrial monitoring, which focus on one county, one instant offense type, or lack a suitable comparison group, with little rigorous research on the impacts of monitoring on defendant behavior. Despite this, results show that GPS supervision may influence success for those on pretrial probation in terms of reoffending. To gain a better understanding of how GPS supervision impacts violations of probation and rearrest, this preliminary investigation will estimate a series of survival analysis models to identify effects of supervision on rates and timing of failure, including cox regression models, shared frailty models, and nested frailty models. The results of these analyses will not only provide comparisons of outcomes, but comparisons of methodological tools to determine whether incremental improvements exist for these types of data. Practical implications and directions for future research will be discussed.

Author

• Kyleigh Clark-Moorman, University of Massachusetts, Lowell