Audit of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP)

This is a state performance audit of the Massachusetts Office of the Commissioner of Probation, covering July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020.

“This report details the audit objectives, scope, methodology, findings, and recommendations for the audit period, July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020.”

Auditors checked whether the office properly enrolled and monitored people in electronic monitoring programs and protected access to juvenile probation records.

“In this performance audit, we determined whether OCP enrolled participants in the Electronic Monitoring Program in accordance with court-ordered parameters, monitored the participants in accordance with OCP policies and procedures, and ensured that participants’ juvenile probation records were accessed by police officials in accordance with Section 90 of Chapter 276 of the General Laws.”

Probation work affects public safety, fairness in the courts, victims, and people trying to avoid reoffending.

“The Massachusetts Probation Service’s mission is to increase community safety, reduce recidivism, contribute to the fair and equitable administration of justice, support victims and survivors, and assist individuals and families in achieving long term positive change.”

For ordinary residents, this matters because electronic monitoring is supposed to help enforce court orders such as house arrest and alcohol restrictions.

“GPS devices are used to enforce court-mandated curfews and court orders, including house arrest.”

The main audit tests came back clean, but the report flagged weaknesses in system access, training, background-check records, and removal of former employees’ access.

“However, we did identify a number of information technology control issues we believe warrant OCP’s attention, which we have disclosed in the “Other Matters” section of this report.”

The probation office said it has started fixing the technology-control issues, and the auditor said it should also update its internal controls to reduce future risk.

“Based on its response, OCP is taking measures to address our concerns on this matter.”

The most important risk was not the monitoring itself, but weak technology controls that could expose sensitive information or create public safety risks.

“Not deactivating terminated employees’ access rights in a timely manner increases the risk of terminated employees improperly accessing offender and victim information, including personal and location information.”

ELMO is the electronic monitoring program; GPS devices track location, and SCRAM devices test for alcohol use and location.

“The primary tools the ELMO Program uses to monitor participants are global positioning system (GPS) devices—specifically, electronic bracelets that provide participants’ locations via GPS—and Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) remote breath devices, which provide participants’ real-time breath alcohol test results and locations via GPS.”