So $1 of tin foil stops electronic monitoring

The Herald reports:

Criminals being electronically monitored are “regularly” wrapping tinfoil around their ankle bracelets and reoffending, according to an internal police report.

Examples of the practice, known as foiling, include a man leaving his home undetected and allegedly going to his ex-partner’s where he lay in wait and held her against her will, assaulting her multiple times, threatening to kill her, and attempting to stab her.

Youths have also been foiling their bracelets before doing ram raids and smash and grabs. …

Frontline police in Canterbury said they were regularly encountering youth offenders doing ram raids who they believed were on EM bail, the report says.

“What was of concern was that although these people were subject to EM bail, police had not been notified by Corrections that they were breaching their conditions.”

Further investigations revealed the suspects were foiling their tracking devices.

So basically electronic monitoring is useless, and a teenager with $1 of tinfoil can breach their bail conditions without Corrections knowing.