The former president (PL) has an internal system that sends real-time data about the person being monitored to a surveillance center.
The signal is encrypted, and any violations are detected in a matter of seconds. The device also has its own alarm, which in case of similar problems.
The violation of the electronic ankle bracelet was one of the factors in Bolsonaro’s decree. He admitted that he tried to break the equipment using a soldering iron — this Sunday (23), he tried to break it.
There are different models of ankle bracelet, and more modern equipment today combines a GPS signal with 4G or 5G technologies that allow data sharing via the internet to surveillance centers.
Notices for purchasing ankle bracelets from state governments provide for two or more telephone operators to avoid signal problems, and the person being monitored cannot have access to the equipment’s internal system.
If the GPS does not work, there are alternatives for finding the location of the person being monitored, including triangulation of signals from Radio Base Stations — a process that seeks the approximate location by crossing data from the towers that received the last signals from the device.
This does not only occur in the case of physical intervention on the device. The monitoring center is also informed when a monitored person leaves the perimeter within which they are authorized to circulate.
If a person obtains regime progression but cannot leave the district, for example, any steps outside the defined perimeter are blamed on both the person using the device and the center that monitors it.
As a rule, it is not a heavy technology: ankle bracelets usually weigh a maximum of 200 grams with batteries that last from 24 hours to 48 hours, depending on the model. The time to charge the instrument varies, but is generally no more than three hours.
The fastening strap must be designed in such a way as to point out any breakage or violation once locked. There is no single technology for this, but there are models that use optical fibers, for example.
On the outside, the material that attaches the equipment to the leg of the person being monitored must meet certain criteria, including being hypoallergenic and guaranteeing resistance to temperature variations.
The anklets are also water resistant and, submerged, can reach a depth of up to three meters.
Present abroad since the end of the 20th century, the use of the equipment began to be discussed in Brazil in 2001, but the first tests came.
It was the president (PT) who sanctioned changes to the Penal Code. This occurred in 2010, during the PT member’s second term.
The rule allows ankle bracelets for prisoners in semi-open or home regimes.
The authorization for the ankle bracelet, however, may be revoked if violations of the equipment or the conditions of use imposed on the person being monitored are found.
Four consequences are foreseen in this case: warning, regression of regime, revocation of authorization for temporary departure or revocation of house arrest.
This is what happened to Jair Bolsonaro, preventively arrested by order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the (Supreme Federal Court), this Saturday (22).
In the early hours of the morning, the former president had tried to break his electronic ankle bracelet with a soldering iron, as he himself admitted to prison officials.
“I used a hot iron, a hot iron… curious.” A soldering iron is a pointed tool that reaches a high temperature and allows you to melt metals.
The former president had been under home control since August 4 and was taken by the PF after pre-trial detention was ordered.
When determining the arrest, Moraes cited the violation of the electronic ankle bracelet in the early hours of the morning, the risk of him fleeing to the US embassy and a vigil called by senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), the former president’s eldest son.
