Experts in electronic monitoring meet in Helsinki

The Con­fed­er­a­tion of Eu­ro­pean Pro­ba­tion CEP or­gan­ises a con­fer­ence on elec­tronic mon­i­tor­ing in Fin­land this week. There are over 200 par­tic­i­pants from all over Eu­rope, who rep­re­sent the mem­ber or­gan­i­sa­tions of CEP, the aca­d­e­mic world and the pro­fes­sional car­ry­ing out the prac­ti­cal work with clients. In ad­di­tion to the of­fi­cial con­fer­ence pro­gramme, the lat­est tech­ni­cal so­lu­tions of dif­fer­ent sup­pli­ers on dis­play.

Digitalisation and new technological innovations affect the prison and probation services, too. The development is fast. Just as in society in general, those responsible for the enforcement of sanctions must consider which innovations support the goals of their work. In some European countries, community sanctions are enforced by organisations instead of authorities. The use of electronic monitoring also varies between countries. In Finland, for example, electronic monitoring is used in both community sanctions and open prisons.

Electronic monitoring usually refers to different forms of supervision where the sentenced person’s location and movement is monitored remotely with the help of, among others, an RF or a GPS ankle tag. In Finland, electronic monitoring is used in monitoring sentences, combination sentences, probationary liberty under supervision, open prisons and intensified travel bans or house arrests imposed as an alternative to remand imprisonment.

The conference focuses on how new technologies can support the goals of community sanctions and electronic monitoring. The individual topics include, among others, where the development of electronic monitoring is heading, which new technological innovations will best support the goals of probation work and does the use of new technologies cause potential problems that should be recognised.

The application of artificial intelligence in probation practices arouses discussion in the field. Personal interaction between the sentenced person and the probation official is considered highly significant in probation work. Therefore, it is important to analyse whether the use of artificial intelligence would change the basic nature of the work or create new kinds of limitations. In the workshops, the participants can also discuss how the use of electronic monitoring varies between different user groups, such as young or female offenders.

Further information:

Senior Specialist Pia Andersson, tel. +358 50 576 2358

Head of International Affairs Virva Raitio, tel. +358 50 572 2949

What is CEP?

CEP is the Confederation of European Probation and it brings together European authorities and organisations working in the field of probation and other parties interested in community sanctions. It has 37 member organisations. The goal of CEP is to promote the rehabilitation and social inclusion of offenders sentenced to community sanctions and measures such as community service, supervision and mediation. CEP forms a unique network and arranges conferences on topical themes, publishes various studies and reports and brings together experts to work on current issues. In addition, CEP offers its expertise to different European bodies. The Criminal Sanctions Agency of Finland has been involved in CEP since it was established in 1981.https://www.cep-probation.org

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