Electronic tags

Electronic monitoring (known as ‘tagging’) is used in England and Wales to monitor curfews and conditions of a court or prison order.

If you’re given a tag, it will usually be attached to your ankle. A monitoring unit or wireless base station will also be installed in a place stated in your court or prison order (usually your home).

If you breach your conditions, you could be taken back to court or to prison. This includes if you damage or tamper with your tag, monitoring unit or wireless base station.

Types of tag

There are 3 types of electronic tag:

  • curfew tags
  • location tags
  • alcohol tags

Which tag you get is decided by the court, prison governor or parole board.

If you have a curfew tag

A curfew tag checks if you’re where you’re meant to be during your curfew hours, for example your home. It will send an alert to a monitoring centre if you’re not.

If you have a location tag

A location tag records data about your movements at all times. It checks if you’re:

  • going to any areas you’ve been told not to go to by the court or prison
  • going to appointments or other programmes that are part of your conditions
  • sticking to your curfew

The police, your probation practitioner or the Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS) can use this information to:

  • support your good behaviour
  • raise any concerns about where you’ve been going

You must charge your location tag for at least one hour every day.

If your tag runs out of battery, this is a potential breach and you could be returned to court or prison.

If you have an alcohol tag

An alcohol tag measures the level of alcohol in your sweat every 30 minutes. If you drink alcohol, it will be recorded by the tag.

You must be within 10 metres of your wireless base station at a certain time every day to send over the data. You’ll be told what time this is when you get your tag.

You must:

  • keep the tag in direct contact with your skin at all times
  • not submerge the tag in water

Contact the Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS)

If you have any problems or questions about your electronic tag, contact EMS.

For curfew and location tags, call the EMS Curfew and Location Monitoring team for free by phone or using your monitoring unit.

EMS Curfew and Location Monitoring
Telephone: 0800 137 291
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

For alcohol tags, call the EMS Alcohol Monitoring team for free.

EMS Alcohol Monitoring
Telephone: 08081 780 058
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

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