Nudge watches and alcohol sensors could take over from "slopping out" and exercise yards as authorities consider proposals to replace some jail sentences with house arrest, drawing on the latest technology to monitor offenders in their homes.
A new review, chaired by the former Conservative justice minister David Gauke, will consider ways to punish thousands more offenders within the community, turning their homes into "virtual prisons", said The Independent.
With the problem of crumbling and overcrowded prisons getting worse, judges may be given the power to hand down sentences that force offenders to stay at home while being monitored by electronic tags. Offenders are able to "earn income, maintain family and other relationships", and "attend probation appointments" and "substance abuse treatment" while being monitored via an electronic bracelet, said The Guardian.
Demand for prison places is rising fast and currently stands at a rate of about 4,500 prisoners a year at a time when the government has admitted that overcrowding has already pushed jails to "the point of collapse".
"It is, undoubtedly, a mess", said The Independent, but the house arrest proposal "appears to miss a crucial point". Mike Nellis, professor of criminal and community justice at the University of Strathclyde, told the paper that "we're in a position right now where we can’t even find accommodation for people when they're released from prison"; sometimes "we're giving them tents". If "we can't even do the basics", the idea that hi-tech gadgets like smart watches are a "significant contribution" to solving the prison crisis is "ridiculous", added Nellis. "We've got to produce something that’s equal to the challenges the service is facing." | 
