So it's a little more complicated than that with the electronic monitoring program where people charged with violent crimes can be electronically monitored at home. For example early last year, ~100 people charged with murder in Cook Country (where the prosecutor in the letter worked) were at home monitored. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/cook-county-sheriff-tom...

my understanding is most cities lack resources to actually monitor the electronic things,

so usually its after a new crime is commited, the police stories read like:

"X suspected of serious crime violated his electoronic home monitoring Y amount of times, we rearrested him during the act of a seperate crime"

Is the cost of monitoring an inmate more, or less than the cost to monitor the electronic things?

i would assume tracking the electronic devices are cheaper

if both options arent funded/run appropriatly public safety is harmed either way