The crucial element of this electronic tether is the radio signal it sends back from the wearer's ankle or wrist. Offenders are typically allowed to leave home during the day for work or counseling and must stay home at night. The receiver automatically alerts a monitoring station if the offender goes too far during detention hours. Home detention is useful for offenders convicted of minor offenses related to their lifestyles; these include driving while intoxicated and public intoxication. Skeptics are concerned most about the length of time between a prisoner's escape and action by the police. This period is 15-18 minutes in most cases and is long enough for a determined prisoner to travel a fair distance and commit serious crimes. Another problem is that some monitoring stations are open only during business hours. Despite their problems, these programs are attractive due to the fiscal savings they achieve. The most expensive electronic monitoring costs about half that of incarceration; the cheapest costs one-tenth as much. Therefore, ankle bracelets are likely to become a familiar piece of popular culture for a long time. Case examples, photograph, and illustration