The San Francisco Sheriff's Office is set to re-enroll participants in its Pre-Trial Electronic Monitoring Program after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals backed the program's legality, as Sheriff Paul Miyamoto announced plans, which had been paused during litigation. The program, which allows individuals to await trial outside custody, is described by City Attorney David Chiu as a safeguard for community safety that necessitates rule-setting by the Sheriff's Office while judges determine eligibility based on individual cases, as per the San Francisco Sheriff's Office.
Despite the appeals court decision and official statements applauding the program, concerns persist over the implications of "Rule 5," which allows for warrantless searches around the clock of participants' bodies, homes, and vehicles; San Francisco Public Defender Danielle Harris points out that defendants often choose electronic monitoring as the lesser of two evils in comparison to remaining behind bars, suggesting it takes a toll on the fundamental presumption of innocence, CBS News San Francisco reports. On the flip side, the California Policy Lab data highlights that many in the program violate conditions, and still, one in five get rearrested while under supervision.
The numbers associated with the PTEM program reveal its fluctuating scale. It peaked with over 1,600 enrollees in 2021, which represented a significant jump from the average of about 75 participants before 2018. Today's figure stands at 98 individuals under electronic monitoring, as per the Sheriff's Department. Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman conveyed guarded approval for the program's resumption, emphasizing the need for judicious application and hinting at potential pitfalls when overused, especially with repeat offenders.
Adding to the conversation, Mayor Daniel Lurie underscored the program's emphasis on safeguarding victims, witnesses, and the community at large by curtailing the potential for suspects to continue criminal activities pre-trial, per CBS News San Francisco, "This is about protecting families from violence. It's about making sure suspected drug dealers can't go back out and continue to commit crimes while they await trial," while Harris champions investment in community-based solutions that target underlying problems as opposed to surveillance techniques, suggesting electronic monitoring is merely a stopgap measure that fails to address core issues.
