Electronic Monitoring Research

The Electronic Monitoring research team includes Kate Storm, the Research Director, and Alec Romero, an undergraduate intern. 

The Expansion of Electronic Monitoring in Milwaukee County 

Electronic monitoring (EM) has expanded nationally as a reform effort to decrease the numbers of youth held in detention facilities and as a pre-adjudication tool to compel youth to attend trial. Scholarship exploring the impact and effectiveness of electronic monitoring is lacking, with existing published research continually calling for further exploration into the implications of its use. Moreover, youth and family experiences with EM are largely absent from the scholarship. By including the voices of youth and families as a narrative thread, this project complements existing research - and necessarily leads to questioning if this reform effort is reducing or expanding the pipeline cycling youth into the adult carceral system.

 

The use of technology by actors in the juvenile legal system has always required high levels of scrutiny, and the implementation of new tools requires research to validate its use. Going further, research that prioritizes the lived reality of how reform efforts manifest when put into practice is critical to ensure these policies are aligned with the rehabilitative goals of the system. This study explores two primary research questions: How has the expansion of electronic monitoring reshaped the carceral landscape for youth in Milwaukee County? What are the impacts on individual youth forced to wear ankle monitors 24 hours a day during their formative developmental years?

 

Electronic monitors were first designed in the 1960s, but only began to gain traction as a tool for the carceral system during the late 80s and early 90s. The ability to limit movement and create data from human activity led to the rapid growth of EM devices, however the belief that the data provided by these devices is infallible has created an environment ripe for the over implementation of this technology. Electronic monitoring has quickly become a popular tool in the criminal legal system, with the expectation that it is an effective alternative to incarceration despite limited research supporting this claim.. Through extensive data analyses and interviewing system stakeholders, this research charts a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of electronic monitors on youth and families, the role electronic monitoring holds in the youth carceral system, its effectiveness as a reform measure, and if EM use is exacerbating existing racial and ethnic disparities.

Involvement within the Milwaukee Community

We began this project in 2017, after a noticeable spike in EM use and application, and after an expressed commitment from political leaders to increase EM use. At that time, the non-profit Youth Justice Milwaukee (YJM) invited Marquette's Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach (CURTO), led by this project's co-director Dr. Rober S. Smith, to join a coalition of youth justice stakeholders exploring alternatives to detention in Milwaukee County. It was immediately and abundantly clear that EM use and application required critical examination given its potential to exacerbate existing racial and ethnic disparities. During the last six years, this emerging project has given rise to local and national collaborations with a wide array of scholars, youth justice activists, and justice system stakeholders.

 

Looking forward the research team anticipates the publication for their first major research deliverable "Monitoring Youth in Milwaukee" in 2026. The team has several other articles in the works with one exploring the history of racialized surveillance in the United States and the other investigating the economic incentives for EM and its relation to the for-profit prison system. 

 

In addition to the listed publications, the EM Milwaukee team is in the process of developing Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) through which youth would be given the opportunity to act as co-researchers on the EM Milwaukee team to develop their own projects exploring the impact EM has had on themselves and their communities. 

Past Presentations

Events: 

Any questions about EM Milwaukee can be directed to Kathryn Storm (kathryn.storm@marquette.edu)