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 Community Corrections Technology Newsletter
January, 2008
A program of the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice
In This Issue
Drug and Alcohol Testing
Electronic Monitoring
Training
Information Technology
Quick Links & Contact Info
 
 
Phone: 1-800-416-8086
EMRC
The EMRC is dedicated to providing law enforcement and correctional agencies with assistance in the development and maintenance of electronic monitoring programs.
Field Search Logo
 Field Search can be used by agencies as part of an overall strategy to gather computer use information to diagnose, treat, monitor, and manage the sex offender in the community. Field Search is designed specifically to help nontechnical probation and parole officers quickly and efficiently search an offenders' computer and create a detailed report of their findings.

The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) was created in 1994 as a component of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Office of Science and Technology.  NLECTC serves as an "honest broker" offering support, research findings, and technological expertise to help State and local law enforcement and corrections personnel perform their duties more safely and efficiently. 

NLECTC has created this electronic newsletter to keep community corrections practitioners informed about technology developments and how technology is being used by the field to enhance mission performance.  We hope that you find this information useful, and we welcome your feedback.
Drug and Alcohol Testing
DUI 

The SCRAM technology is gaining traction among criminal justice practitioners in the St. Louis, Missouri area.  Click here for an article appearing in the St. Louis Dispatch.

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The South Dakota House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to expand the state's 24-7 sobriety program.  The program, which uses SCRAM technology to monitor offender alcohol use, currently has a waiting list of more than 100 offenders.  Click here for the article that appeared in the Argus Leader.
Electronic Monitoring
 
SatelliteUC-Irvine's Center for Evidence Based Corrections recently released the following report: "Implementation and Early Outcomes for the San Diego High Risk Sex Offender (HRSO) GPS Pilot Program."  Click here for the report.
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This article appearing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer examines the issues that Washington State is facing as mandates will soon expand their GPS tracking program.
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A proposal calls for tracking work release inmates in Milwaukee with GPS devices as an alternative to housing them in the county community correctional center.  Click here for the article that appeared in Correctional News.

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A Maine legislative proposal to track low-risk inmates and probationers electronically, was killed before reaching the floor.  Click here for the article that appeared in the Kennebec Journal.
 
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According to an article appearing in The Erie Times-News, Erie County, Pennsylvania has over 400 offenders in their Electronic Monitoring program, an increase of 23% over the previous year.  Click here for the article about this growing program.
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A projected increase in sunspot activity may affect GPS devices.  Click here for the article that appeared in The Coloradoan.

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A Florida offender has been linked to a boat burglary thanks to the GPS tracking device he was wearing at the time of the crime.  Click here for the article that appeared in The Tampa Tribune.

 
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According to an article that appeared in The Independent, the United Kingdom is considering a plan to implant RFID chip in sex offenders as part of a plan to better monitor their whereabouts.  Click here for the article.
 
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A previously released report that led to accusations that Scotland's electronic monitoring program was not working was based on serious statistical errors according to the Scottish government.  The original report, for example, indicated that breaches increased by 61% in 2006-07, when they had actually decreased by 7.6%.  Click here for the article that appeared in The Press and Journal.
 
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Maryland's Governor announces a plan to monitor juvenile offenders via GPS technology.  Click here to see the article that appeared in the Baltimore Sun.
Training
 

Cybercrime

NLECTC's 9th annual Innovative Technologies for Community Corrections Conference will be held on June 9-11, 2008 in Denver, CO.  The conference focuses on the implementation of technology as well as new technologies on the horizon.  Workshops are organized in four tracks: Electronic Monitoring, Drug and Alcohol Testing, Information Technology and Management Issues.  An exhibit hall will also be set up for attendees to interact with technology vendors.  Visit our website at: http://www.nlectc.org/training/commcorr.html for updates.
Information Technology
 
ReportDr. Stephen Brake and Dr. Jim Tanner recently published an article entitled: "Determining the Need for Internet Monitoring of Sex Offenders."  Click here to view the article.
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Pew Charitable Trusts' Public Safety Performance Project recently posted an article by Bill Burrell and Adam Gelb entitled: "You Get What You Measure: Compstat for Community Corrections."  Click here for the link.
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The CW11 news station recently ran a report on the automated reporting kiosk system in New York City.  Click here to view the report which is labeled "Fact Finders: New Machine Tracking Criminals on Probation."

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Probation officials in Minnesota take taken an innovative approach to more effectively compiling criminal history data.  Click here for the report from Minnesota Public Radio.
Please contact us if we can ever assist you with your technology issues.
 
Sincerely,
 

Joe Russo
National Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology Center
This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2005-IJ-CX-K001; awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.