This is what it might look like

Surveillance of High-Risk Individuals Is Being Revamped

In the future, dangerous individuals and violent men could be monitored using electronic ankle monitors.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com, Attentigroup)

Austria is planning to implement electronic monitoring of high-risk offenders. Justice Minister Anna Sporrer explains how the system could work and what models are available.

Spain and Romania are leading the way, and there is already cross-party support in Austria: Violent offenders are to be electronically monitored in the future. However, the ankle monitor for violent offenders might not actually be an ankle monitor at all—but rather a much more discreet alternative.

Although the government has been discussing the monitoring of high-risk offenders for some time—including working group meetings this summer—exactly what the device will look like remains entirely open. For example, an electronic wristband is also being considered, which “is sometimes more inconspicuous and cannot be removed,” according to Justice Minister Anna Sporrer in an interview with the “Krone.”

Justice Minister Anna Sporrer is currently having a model developed for the electronic monitoring of “high-risk offenders.”(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Here’s how the monitoring is supposed to work
What might this look like in practice? It’s not just the perpetrator who would wear an electronic bracelet. The woman at risk or their children would also have to carry a linked device. “But this is only possible with the consent of the potential victim,” the minister emphasizes. If the perpetrator approaches within less than the permitted 100 meters, “an alarm is triggered at the police station.” Officers should then respond quickly: “The police immediately call the potential victim and ask if she feels threatened.” Because, as Sporrer explains: “It could also be a false alarm.”

Potential perpetrators and violent men could be monitored with electronic ankle monitors in the future.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com, Attentigroup)

The minister believes this system works very well in Spain. There, the perpetrator wears a fixed GPS transmitter, and the woman at risk receives a linked emergency phone. If he gets too close to her, both the woman and a 24/7 monitoring center are alerted. 

Ankle monitor or wristband?
However, the decision on which device will ultimately be chosen will not be made until later. The working group is currently focusing primarily on the legal and organizational implementation. “Discussions regarding the selection of the technical devices to be used only make sense once all other framework conditions have been established,” according to a statement from Sporrer’s office.

And several questions remain unanswered: Who is considered a high-risk threat? Who assesses the risk? Which court orders the monitoring? And who responds as soon as an alarm is triggered? According to Sporrer’s vision, the executive branch should also be responsible for the risk assessment. “The civil court is too far removed from the case for that.” Nevertheless, a court must still order the surveillance. Sporrer does not, however, view this measure as a substitute for pretrial detention.

In any case, the working group will present its findings this fall, after which negotiations will take place with the ÖVP and NEOS, and Sporrer hopes for a quick agreement—perhaps even before winter.