Why Scotland's courts need to make greater use of sophisticated new electronic tags

Few people will have missed that Scotland’s prison population is reaching crisis levels, and the recent announcement on early release brought that into sharp focus. Prisons can’t and won’t work well when overcrowding turns them into tinderboxes.

We also know that a large part of the problem is remand. Almost 26 per cent of prisoners are on remand, out of the total prison population of about 8,400.

Some do need to be on remand while they await trial, where there is a risk they will flee, interfere with witnesses, or present a danger. In many other instances, we can and should keep people in the community on bail. Where sheriffs decide that extra restrictions are needed, they can use electronic monitoring, keeping people on a curfew between certain times.

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A man wears a discreet electronic tag on his ankle. Modern GPS versions can place the person wearing it to within a few metres (Picture: Chris Radburn) | PA

Chaotic lives need structure

Tagging has moved on in recent decades. Old systems relied on a base unit at home to show whether someone was present during curfew. Now GPS tags can place a person to within three to five metres, helping to keep people to certain areas and away from others. Alcohol tags measure ethanol in sweat, which can help people abstain over defined periods.

Of course this is only technology. Many of us wear smart watches yet rarely use them to take more exercise, ignoring the day we only walked 4,000 steps. People often need support to comply or change behaviour.

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The evidence is the same with electronic monitoring – people on bail frequently live chaotic lives and need structure to succeed. Last week my organisation sent a national improvement recommendation to the Scottish Government urging action.

Electronic monitoring is not a cure all, yet it offers ways to keep people in their communities, reassure victims, and support behavioural change. Expert recommendations were made in 2016 and legislation passed in 2019, but we’ve still been too slow to roll out the most modern monitoring tools.

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Errors are usually human ones

Of course, there are pitfalls. A quick online search for electronic tagging will return stories about failures around the world. Those failures are not usually about the technology. The systems work. The breakdowns are in implementation, and that’s on us, the humans in the system.

There is an old military adage that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. In our context, it means we must think through every detail of how we monitor and support people.

Can they charge the tag, which needs regular power? Do exclusion zones stop them working or shopping? Are curfew hours realistic for caring duties? These are people-centred design problems, not technical ones.

The ballooning prison population feels like an impossible, unstoppable problem and there is no single solution. But we can use electronic monitoring more efficiently and effectively, and that will have an impact.

If we pair modern tags with clear guidance for sheriffs, proper training for supervisors, and the practical support that helps people stick to conditions, we can keep more people safely in their communities, reduce unnecessary remand, and give victims greater reassurance.

None of this replaces investment in community justice – which must be properly funded – but done well it eases pressure inside our prisons, creates the space for rehabilitation, and begins to rebuild confidence in a system that should keep people safe and treat them fairly.

Karyn McCluskey is chief executive of Community Justice Scotland