The use of these devices began on February 27th this year. However, in four months of operation, the Ministry of Justice and Peace reported that 16 users have removed the device against legal provisions.
That is, an average of four cases per month.
The law that guarantees the use of these devices establishes three assumptions of use: permanent location before a precautionary measure imposed to not leave the country or to sign periodically, parole or house arrest, and to monitor suspects in cases of domestic violence.
In total, there are 247 people who use these devices to date.
They are not prisoners, but users, because they are not in a prison, some have never even entered a prison,”
explained the Justice and Peace Ministry through its press office.
The people who were convicted and use the devices are due to different crimes, including: aggravated robbery, simple robbery, drug sales, drug introduction to prisons. All of them with penalties below six years.
What happens when a user removes the device? Authorities must submit it to court to conduct the hearing and determine if they should keep using it if it’s in good conditions.
The ministry announced in February an investment of 860 million colones for a total of 270 devices. The daily operating cost of each of them is around $18 (that is, between 8 and 9 thousand colones).