Convicted young people with a light sentence may be able to serve their sentence at home with an ankle bracelet. They no longer have to go to a juvenile detention center. Minister Weerwind for Legal Protection is looking into whether electronic detention can be a possible alternative for young people who have received a short sentence.
Weerwind thinks it is better for such criminal youths not to be locked up. In prison they suffer ‘detention damage’. With an ankle bracelet, these young people stay at home, they can go to school or work and they have free time to hang out with their friends.
“For self-reporters, electronic detention may be a good alternative to a short stay in a juvenile detention center, given the seriousness and scope of the crimes,” Weerwind writes in a letter to the House of Representatives.
At home
At the moment, some criminal youths are already getting an ankle bracelet, but that is mainly if they have a location or area ban. For example, they must be at home in the evening or at night or may not come near where they have committed a crime.
Minister Weerwind may want to introduce the ankle bracelet as an alternative to a prison sentence for self-reporters. These are people who are called upon to report to the prison. The ministry assumes about 30 young people per month, which is 360 per year. Before the summer, Weerwind will decide whether the replacement ankle bracelet will actually be made.
