MOUNT VERNON — Ohio has received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to upgrade its criminal tracking system. The system, called Victim Information and Notification Everyday, allows crime victims to check the status of inmates still in prison. The system is run by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and uses phone and e-mail notification. It currently provides information on changes to an inmate’s status, including releases, transfers, escapes and deaths.
The upgrade, scheduled to be in place by 2010, will allow crime victims to follow offenders’ movements after they are released from prison on parole or probation.
“It will empower victims and allow them more control over their own situation and safety,” said Matt Hellman, administrator of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office of Victims Services, in an Associated Press interview. “If they need to, they can make plans for their own safety and for the safety of friends and family.”
The Knox County Prosecutor’s Office maintains a victim assistance program, run by Diana Oswalt. Oswalt thinks the enhancement to the system is a good idea.
“Right now we can track them through prison,” she explained. “We know if they are coming up for a hearing or getting out of prison. And I send this information to victims, saying this is what’s happening. This system would be really nice if, for instance, restitution is involved. When they’re in prison you don’t see any of that money, even though you could. But this is another way of following [the offender].
“When somebody does get released I do send the victim the information; where he is going to be supervised, what office, what officer and the number. And [the offender] could be living out of county. It would also be nice in regard to some of the sexual offenses and the really violent crimes.”
Ohio was one of the first states to offer the system, implementing it in 1998. State officials report the current system was used nearly 1 million times in 2007 to track the custody and status of Ohio inmates. The program is a free and anonymous computer-based service available to anyone 24 hours a day.
