Manitoba's NDP government reinstating ankle bracelet program that was cancelled in 2017

Manitoba's NDP government is bringing back ankle bracelets as a tool to monitor people accused of crime after a multi-year absence in the province. 

The province will roll out 100 GPS monitoring devices that will be used to supervise individuals who are released on bail, justice minister Matt Wiebe announced Wednesday during a press conference. 

"I think what we're looking at is repeat offenders who are continuously breaching their bail conditions and those chronic reoffenders are folks who if these crimes are left unchecked, sometimes elevate to more serious crimes," Wiebe said. 

"So if we can use these kind of technologies to break the cycle, to give people an opportunity to meet their bail conditions and ultimately keep our community safer, that's what it's about."

Wiebe said the program will start in Winnipeg, but the province is having discussions around the expansion of the program across Manitoba. 

There are specific criteria on how the program will assess which offenders will be outfitted with these devices, which excludes cases involving murder, aggravated sexual assault and violence with a firearm, he said. Cases involving intimate partner violence have also been excluded, but will become eligible following consultations with experts. 

The electronic monitoring devices will use voice, audio and vibration commands, permitting law enforcement to communicate with offenders, he said, adding that officers can pinpoint an individual's location within six and a half feet to where they're located. 

If necessary, loud alerts will ring out if the individual being monitored enters an area they're not supposed to, such as retail stores. 

"What our government has done is send a clear message about getting tough on crime, about sending a message to those repeat offenders who are terrorizing our communities that there are consequences for your actions," Wiebe said. 

Sometimes offenders who've recently been arrested and released return to a location and feel confident they can get away with committing a crime, said Rui Rodrigues, who's the executive advisor of loss prevention and risk management at the Retail Council of Canada. 

"There is shoplifting and then there is a heightened level of incidence of violence, weapons, assaults, both verbal and physical, and it's being done on a repetitive basis, sometimes by the same individuals that are known in the community," Rodrigues said, adding he commends the province for taking these steps. 

The software allows for 24-7 monitoring and can notify law enforcement of the wearer's location at any time.

The Winnipeg Police Service said it supports the reinstatement of the ankle bracelet program. 

The government describes electronic monitoring as another way it is trying to combat retail crime and keep communities safe.