San Francisco Sheriff brings back ankle monitoring program
San Francisco officials are celebrating the revival of what they call a key tool in their pretrial supervision arsenal after a federal appeals court ruled that requiring warrantless searches for participants in the city's electronic monitoring program does not violate constitutional rights.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 decision last week overturning a lower court injunction that had barred the Sheriff's Department from imposing warrantless search conditions on people released under its Pre-Trial Electronic Monitoring (PTEM) program. The appeals panel found that the program, which allows defendants to await trial out of custody while being electronically monitored, strikes a reasonable balance between public safety and individual privacy when ordered by a judge following an individualized assessment.
Sheriff Paul Miyamoto welcomed the ruling, announcing plans to resume full enrollment in the program, which had been paused for new participants amid the litigation. "We want to give defendants an opportunity to receive services in the community that provide them with a chance to succeed while awaiting resolution of their case," Miyamoto said. "And the bottom line, we want to make sure everybody is safe when we do so."
But some say the program's conditions, including consent to warrantless searches, undermine the presumption of innocence. San Francisco Public Defender Danielle Harris argues that electronic monitoring is often chosen under duress. "If the choice is jail or electronic monitoring, almost everyone will choose electronic monitoring — not because it's a good option," Harris said.
The controversy hinges largely on PTEM's "Rule 5," which allows law enforcement to search participants' persons, homes, and vehicles without a warrant at any time.
The decision comes at a contrast to data that raises questions about the program's overall effectiveness. A 2022 study by the California Policy Lab found that 60% of PTEM participants violated at least one condition of their release, and one in five was rearrested for a new offense while under supervision.
At its peak in 2021, PTEM had enrolled more than 1,600 individuals — a surge from its pre-2018 average of about 75 participants. Today, 98 people remain under electronic monitoring, according to the Sheriff's Department.
Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman said he supports the return of electronic monitoring as a tool, but warned against relying on it for repeat offenders. "There are people who need to be held and held to account and should not be released unless we can safely do it and for some of those people the ankle monitor may have an additional level of safety or certainty, but we should not be using them to the same extend we were before," Mandelman said.
Mayor Daniel Lurie said the program is about protecting victims, witnesses and the community. "This is about protecting families from violence. It's about making sure suspected drug dealers can't go back out and continue to commit crimes while they await trial."
Meanwhile, Harris continues to call for more investment in community-based solutions that address root causes rather than relying on surveillance technology. "If we don't treat those needs, we're just putting a band-aid on it."
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