Two-piece system and method for electronic management of offenders based on real-time risk profiles

• US 8,862,152 B1
• Filed: 11/02/2012
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcohol Monitoring Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alcohol Monitoring Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Buchholz, Gregory A., Pruitt, Don F., Brown, Floyd J., Colletta, Jordan B.
• Primary Examiner(s): MILLER, BRANDON J
• Application Number:
  US13/668,114
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4566, 4554041-4042
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and system for monitoring an offender includes establishing a communications link between a mobile phone and an offender monitoring unit. The mobile phone may receive geocoded signals that provide indoor location information. A communications link may then be established between the mobile phone and a computer server. The geocoded signals may be relayed from the mobile phone to the computer server. The computer server may generate a correlation matrix that tracks status information associated with the offender monitoring unit and provides one or more recommendations on how to manage the offender associated with the offender monitoring unit. The offender monitoring unit may detect if it has been compromised and it may also detect a battery status signal, as well as chemical sensing signals. The offender monitoring unit may relay this status information to the mobile phone, which may then relay this information back to the computer server.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for monitoring an offender comprising:

establishing a communications link between a mobile phone and an offender monitoring unit;

receiving geocoded signals generated by a geo-coding system from any location within an indoor space with the mobile phone, wherein the geocoded signals provide indoor location information;

establishing a communications link between the mobile phone and a computer server;

relaying the geocoded signals from the mobile phone to the computer server; and

generating a correlation matrix that tracks a plurality of offender monitoring parameters associated with the offender monitoring unit over time and provides one or more recommendations on how to manage the offender based on the changes in the plurality of offender monitoring parameters at different points in time.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting with the offender monitoring unit if the offender monitoring unit has been compromised.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting at least one of a tampering signal, battery status signal, and chemical sensing signal with the offender monitoring unit.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising relaying status information from one or more signals from the offender monitoring unit to the mobile phone.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising relaying the status information from the mobile phone to the computer server over a communications network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the offender monitoring unit has violated one or more zone restrictions.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more zone restrictions comprise at least one of a restriction zone, an inclusion zone, and a neutral zone.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining if the offender has violated any restriction based on the received indoor location information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the offender monitoring unit does not have any global positioning service (GPS) software or hardware.

10. An offender monitoring system comprising:

a computer server for tracking and recording times and locations associated with an offender monitoring unit;

a portable computing device that communicates with the computer server over a wireless telephone network, the portable computing device comprising a global satellite positioning module for ascertaining a geographical location of the portable computing device and a geocode module for

receiving geocoded signals generated by a geo-coding system from any location within an indoor space, wherein the geocoded signals comprise location information for one or more indoor locations, the portable computing device being associated with only a single offender monitoring unit; and

the offender monitoring unit being coupled to the portable computing device via a wireless communication channel, the offender monitoring unit operating without any global satellite positioning software or hardware, wherein the computer server generates a correlation matrix that tracks a plurality of offender monitoring parameters associated with the offender monitoring unit over time, and provides on or more recommendations on how to manage the offender based on the changes in the plurality of offender monitoring parameters at different points in time.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the portable computing device comprises at least one of a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, a pager, a smartphone, a navigation device, and a hand-held computer with a wireless connection or link.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the offender monitoring unit is worn on a limb of a human body.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer server determines if the offender monitoring unit has violated one or more zone restrictions.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more zone restrictions comprise at least one of a restriction zone, an inclusion zone, and a neutral zone.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the computer server determines if the offender has violated any restriction based on the received indoor location information.

16. A computer implemented system for tracking an offender comprising:

an offender monitoring unit running a communication module for establishing a communications link between a mobile phone and the offender monitoring unit;

a geo-coding system, wherein a geocode module running in the mobile phone receives geocoded signals generated by the geo-coding system from any location within an indoor space with the mobile phone, wherein the geocoded signals provide indoor location information;

a network interface in the mobile phone for establishing a communication link between the mobile phone and a computer server, wherein a message module in the mobile phone relays the geocoded signals from the mobile phone to the computer server; and

a correlation matrix generated by a correlation matrix module running in the computer server, wherein the correlation matrix tracks a plurality of offender monitoring parameters associated with the offender monitoring unit over time, and provides one or more recommendations on how to manage the offender based on the changes in the plurality of offender monitoring parameters at specific points in time.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a tamper alert module running in the offender monitoring unit for detecting if the offender monitoring unit has been compromised.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the message module detects at least one of a tampering signal, a battery status signal, and a chemical sensing signal.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the communications module relays status information from one or more signals from the offender monitoring unit to the mobile phone.