Bail bracelet tampering 'as low as it's always been'

The tamper and abscond rate of electronic bail bracelets rate sits at around 1.4% for July this year, Corrections says.

A police report, EM Bail - "Foiling" and Monitoring Limitations, leaked to the New Zealand Herald, claims people are wrapping their bail bracelets in foil to avoid detection, before going on to commit crimes, including ram raids.

New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Naila Hassan told Morning Report the document was based on one district — Canterbury — and was not intended to portray a national view of the situation.

"I think it's important to note it was one district, it was for an internal audience."

It was not unusual for police to produce a document on emerging risks, she said.

"It's then for us as an organisation to look at those risks that are identified and be able to work through processes and manage those risks."

Corrections national commissioner Leigh Marsh told Morning Report there were a number of ways people tampered with the bracelets.

In a statement released on Sunday, Marsh said the practice of foiling was not new, and all people on electronic bail were considered high risk.

Marsh said the number of people on monitored bail had increased from 495 as of June 30 in 2017 to 2345 at June 30 this year.

Corrections had been actively recruiting and retaining electronic monitoring staff, he said.

"The abscond or tamper rate with our bracelets is as low as it's always been — it's around 1.4% for July this year," Marsh told Morning Report.

"Yes, the overall number has increased, but it has increased in line with the overall population increasing."

There were a range of trending ways that people attempted to tamper with the bracelets, he said.

"The way the technology works is we use really three modes of communication for the bracelets, so when someone's at home, it talks to a base unit, which is a bit like your WiFi router, and that's how it communicates data while on the premises.

"When they go out into the public area, it talks to a satellite a bit like your car GPS, and that satellite records longitude, latitude and altitude and any other data from the device, which is battery levels, any tampering, any cutting of the bracelets, is transmitted through the cell networks and we operate across two separate cell networks for continuity across those bracelets."

Marsh said if someone cut their bracelet, as soon as it was identified, police were called.

People who abscond were caught and put before court, he said.

"All EM bailees from our end are treated as high risk and result in an automatic call to police, which is slightly different to the ones we manage under Sentence and Orders, which are supported in tandem with a probation officer."

Corrections had not been provided with the report, he said, but Hassan said police intended to speak with Corrections about it.

It was concerning people were breaching their EM bail conditions, she said.

"Our role as New Zealand police is to keep the public and our staff safe by ensuring that when there is a breach notified by Corrections, we respond to that accordingly," she said.

"We need to make sure we that we analyse the information that's brought to us, that we identify who the most serious offenders and that we respond to those quicker than the less serious offenders."

rnz.co.nz