Ankle monitors increasingly used in Dutch punishments

Dutch criminals increasingly get house arrest with an ankle monitor as a sentence in the Netherlands. Last year Dutch judges imposed ankle monitors as punishments 1,759 times, compared to 900 in 2012, BNR reports.

Ankle monitors are mainly imposed on criminals guilty of robberies and drug-related offenses, Sjef van Gennip, director of Probation Netherlands, said to the broadcaster. House arrest with an ankle monitor is often cheaper than keeping someone in prison. It also enables convicts to keep their jobs or continue with their training, which decreases the risk of recurrence.

According to Van Gnnnip, an ankle monitor is a significant punishment. "You are always watched. Plus the fact that someone not only wears the ankle monitor, but is also supervised by the Probation Service and ust adhere to all kinds of agreements."