THE Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia joins with inspection bodies in calling for urgent improvements to electronic monitoring of prisoners who’ve been released early from their sentence and serve the rest of the time in the community.

Inspectors found that 18 per cent of people who should have been electronically monitored were not being monitored, including 1,585 offenders released on licence with tagging conditions.

A recent inspection into electronic monitoring led by HM Inspectorate of Probation supported by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services finds thousands of people have not been electronically monitored leaving the public at risk.

The report also found that some individuals recorded as being electronically tagged had been registered in error, raising further concerns about the reliability of the system.

This Inaccurate information undermine confidence in the system and public safety.

John Campion West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner continues to work with criminal justice agencies to seek assurances from the Government that communities are not being put at risk by failures to the system.

Mr Campion said: "I have repeatedly heard from victims who rely on electronic tagging arrangements to help keep them safe and provide reassurance that offenders are being properly monitored.

“They expect, and deserve, a system they can have confidence in. This report makes for deeply concerning reading.

It is clear that failures within electronic monitoring arrangements are leaving victims and the wider public at risk at a time when increasing numbers of offenders are being managed in the community.

"Inspectors have identified serious shortcomings in governance, data quality, performance management, information sharing and enforcement. These weaknesses undermine confidence in a system designed to protect the public and support victims.

"If electronic monitoring is to play a greater role in offender management, particularly as more prisoners are released early, the Government must urgently address these failings.”