As COVID-19 began to spread in early 2020 – reaching a pandemic state – it quickly became clear that jails and prisons were particularly susceptible to the spread of this virus. In response, criminal justice systems worldwide began looking for alternatives to incarceration. Electronic monitoring via Global Positioning System (GPS) or radio frequency (RF) monitoring was an accessible and respected solution. This technology allowed qualifying prisoners to be released from incarceration to the relative safety of their homes, while still being monitored. At the same time, courts around the world began experimenting with the use of electronic monitoring for an entirely different purpose: enforcing quarantine orders.
