Archive

Archive for the ‘GPS’ Category

NC County Budget Aims At Jail Issues

May 21st, 2009
Comments Off

nc-robeson-county-mapRobeson County NC officials hope a new monitoring program and hiring additional jailers will address issues at the county jail.  Reported by the Fayetteville Observer.

The county Board of Commissioners has approved hiring eight jailers and allocated more than $200,000 for a monitoring program in the proposed fiscal 2010 budget. Officials say the additional jailers will meet the state’s requirement on physically monitoring inmates. The new GPS monitoring program would reduce crowding at the jail and allow nonviolent offenders to be monitored at home instead of being incarcerated. There are about 420 inmates at the jail, which is a 409-bed facility. It opened in 1992 with 250 inmates. The jail population ranges from 400 to 440 inmates a day.

A state inspector told jail officials earlier this year to change the way they observe inmates. The inspector with the state Division of Health Service Regulation says jailers should be checking on inmates in person twice an hour. Jailers now observe each inmate at least twice an hour on an irregular basis by looking through the glass on the cell door. John Harkins, the chief inspector with the Jails and Detention Section, said jailers must follow the North Carolina Administrative Code and check on each inmate twice an hour in person …

The county plans to hire four jailers this fall and four more in January or February, Windley said. The proposed budget allocates $175,000 for the positions … Officials felt two to three jailers would be needed to make the rounds instead of one to meet the state requirements …

The GPS program calls for nonviolent offenders, such as those owing child support, to be monitored through a GPS system rather than being placed in the jail. The county is allotting about $274,000 for the program, which is modeled after one in Pitt County. It will require two employees. Two road deputies will help administer the program when needed … The program is slated to start in January.

jakking Accreditation, Community Corrections, Electronic Monitoring, GPS, NC Robeson County, Overcrowding

Monitors No Substitute For Jail: Sheriff

May 13th, 2009
Comments Off

sheriff-simon-leisA political fight that erupted last week at Cincinnati City Council over buying more ankle bracelets to monitor low-level criminal offenders obscured a basic truth, according to the Hamilton County OH sheriff.  Even if the city and the county purchase electronic monitoring units by the hundreds, it’s only a temporary fix.  Report from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“No amount of EMU’s can replace the 800-bed jail we had to close,” Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. said. The bracelets, he said, relieve just some of the problems … Budget woes forced the sheriff to close the 800-bed Queensgate jail last year, reducing the jail system’s capacity by a third …

The fight began after some Cincinnati council members wanted to use part of $1.2 million in stimulus money given to the city by the U.S. Department of Justice to lease 75 electronic monitoring units, a tool that allows a suspect or convict to be monitored while living at home. But Mayor Mark Mallory sent that proposal to committee, meaning it will likely die without a hearing. Those new units would have come on top of 75 electronic monitoring units the county plans to lease with its own $1.2 million in stimulus dollars. Those would be on top of the 440 units already in use.

In Leis’ view, 75 or even 150 units won’t have a major impact. “It is just a temporary stop-gap,” he said. “There’s just no way this criminal justice problem can be solved without jail beds.”

What pushed the issue out front last week was the arrest of Miciah Black, a 20-year-old who was repeatedly ordered jailed on minor offenses, but repeatedly released due to overcrowding. While out, he is accused of raping a teenager in Lytle Park in downtown Cincinnati.   Since Jan. 1, the sheriff said he has had to release 8,571 prisoners, either immediately after arrest (the person is told to go to court), by telling people to come back and serve their sentence later, or by releasing them before their sentence is up.

Most counties [in Ohio] use at least a few electronic monitoring units. Warren County court officials say more than 600 offenders were supervised on electronic monitoring in 2008. Clermont County uses 10-20 units on any given day but hopes to use more in the future, officials there said. Butler County uses about 25 of the devices at a time … Hamilton County uses about 300 each day …

Last Tuesday, three judges went to council’s law committee meeting and begged for council’s help, saying closing Queensgate emboldened criminals who know unless their crime is serious there’s a good chance they’ll be released right after arrest and possibly not ever serve a sentence.Hamilton County Municipal Judge Bernie Bouchard, one of the three judges who testified before council, said the monitors are not the long-term solution, but they are the “best solution right now.”

jakking Early Release, Economic Issues, Electronic Monitoring, GPS, OH Clermont County, OH Warren County, RFID

NC Jail Looks At GPS

February 9th, 2009
Comments Off

An ankle bracelet monitoring system could soon become the remedy for curbing the surging population at the Gaston County NC Jail.

sheriff-alan-cloningerSheriff Alan Cloninger wants the county to lease 100 of the bracelets, which rely on GPS technology to monitor the location of suspects and criminals who would otherwise be locked up. He hopes to use the devices on a two-year trial while tracking the system’s effectiveness.   Judges would have discretion over when to allow use of the bracelets. People charged with acts of domestic violence or arrested for failing to appear in court would be likely candidates, Cloninger said.

Leasing 100 bracelets would cost an estimated $240,000 a year, Cloninger said. County commissioners are expected to vote on the investment Feb. 26, but they are concerned about additional personnel Cloninger also requested to run the program. Nine and a half new positions – including five deputies, two telecommunicators and a sergeant – would be needed, Cloninger said …

The Gaston County Sheriff’s Office receives $60 per inmate per day to house federal prisoners at the jail. But an overpopulation of local and state inmates often prevents them from taking full advantage of that lucrative program.   Freeing up 100 beds for federal prisoners could allow the ankle bracelet program to pay for itself, he said.    “I don’t know of any other way to reduce the jail population in a quick manner,” he said.

Ankle bracelets are the first in a three-phase approach Cloninger has recommended to address jail overcrowding.   The second phase would involve “infilling” unused recreation space in the jail with 70 new beds. The upgrade would cost about $6.5 million for design and construction, and would take 18 months to two years to complete, said Gaston County Manager Jan Winters.   Cloninger’s third phase calls for a larger 440-bed expansion that could cost $70 million, although federal economic stimulus money could bring that expense down.   Another option might be to add 140 beds with another level on the current jail, although it is uncertain that the foundation could support the extra weight, Cloninger said …

“The issue is how do we delay building a new multi-million-dollar jail,” Winters said. “Can we save money by avoiding or delaying construction?”    The average daily population at the Gaston County Jail rose from 449 inmates in 2004, to 541 inmates in 2008, Cloninger said. The jail has 584 beds, but its prisoner total often pushes 580 or 590 – especially on weekends and during the summer, Cloninger said. Exceeding capacity violates state law.

There is a lot more operational detail at the Gaston Gazette.

jakking Electronic Monitoring, GPS, NC Gaston County, North Carolina, Overcrowding