Convicts indicted in minor offences will be monitored round the clock through electronic tagging in Abu Dhabi, instead of spending their short jail terms in prison, according to Emarat Al Youm newspaper.
The Abu Dhabi General Directorate announced the electronic surveillance measure in co-ordination with the judiciary directorate as a flexible law enforcement alternative to incarceration.
Electronic bracelets fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) will be used to ensure real-time monitoring of convicts and tracking them down whenever necessary.
The judicial authority – the courts or the public prosecution – are the authorities mandated to order convicts under surveillance to wear electronic bracelets.
The electronic tagging enables law enforcement officers to monitor the movement of convicts and confine them to specific locations and times.
“Electronic tagging provides accurate data which show the offenders’ degree of compliance during the period of surveillance,” said Abu Dhabi Public Prosecutor Ali Mohammed Al Balooshi.
Abu Dhabi Police director-general Major-General Maktoum Al Sharifi said that electronic tagging would make convicts’ reform and rehabilitation more efficient and facilitate their social integration.