“Voice Handcuffs” Monitor Offenders
ShadowTrack developed so-called “voice handcuffs” as an infrastructure-free monitoring system to track the location of offenders released on bail. Nuance Verifier authentication software provides encryption for offenders’ voiceprints, which ShadowTrack uses to ensure offenders are obeying conditions of their release. The ShadowTrack system asks offenders to repeat a different phrase during each phone call to prevent use of a recorded response and uses an anti-fraud system to ensure calls are not forwarded to another location. In addition, the system can account for changes in the offender’s voice–as from a cold–and also allow offenders to call in from other pre-approved phone numbers. ShadowTrack sends a phone, pager, fax, or email alert if the voice answering the phone does not match the voiceprint. California, Arizona, Nebraska, Minnesota, and select parts of Louisiana, including New Orleans, Covington, and Lafayette, have tested ShadowTrack. Probation and parole boards can deploy the system at less than $70 per month, compared to conventional electronic monitoring technologies costing between $200 to $300 per month.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Law Enforcement Technology (02/03) Vol. 30, No. 2, P. 84; Magaletta, Robert .