Computerized System Lets Victims Know if Convicts are Released Early or Transferred
By Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer
Originally published by The Associated Press, March 19, 2002
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ronita Sutton, whose 17-year-old son was murdered in 1998, has something that gives her comfort: a toll-free number that she can use to reassure herself that her son's killer is securely behind bars.
When she dials the number, a recording tells Sutton whether convicted murderer Michael Gill has been transferred to another prison and whether his legal status has changed.
"My life is spent making sure he serves all of his sentence for what he did to my son," said the 38-year-old mother.
Oregon has joined a growing number of states linked to a computerized network that allows crime victims, their friends or relatives to keep tabs on offenders.
If a prisoner escapes, the system automatically calls people who could be in danger. The system calls every 30 minutes until the person responds.
Known as the Victim Information Notification Everyday system, the free service is available 24 hours a day.
Supporters say the system has saved lives.
Authorities in Jefferson County, Ky., said a woman whose husband was jailed for abusing her was notified by VINE of her husband's release on bail. The woman did not go home and instead contacted police, who later found the man hiding in the woman's closet with a knife.
It has not always been easy to keep track of someone once he has been sent to prison. Often, victims have had to wend their way through the bureaucracy of the prosecutor's office or the state prison system, and in many cases there were no procedures for notifying victims about an offender's escape or early release.
"We strongly favor this, because it makes victims' rights a reality," said Susan Howley, a spokeswoman for the National Center for Victims of Crime in Washington.
The VINE system was created in 1994 by two computer engineers in Louisville, Ky., after pleas by relatives of a woman who was shot to death on her 21st birthday by a former boyfriend who had been charged with kidnapping and raping her a few weeks earlier. The slaying occurred after the man was freed on bail without the victim's family's knowledge.
The VINE network has been growing ever since. Fourteen states and 1,200 communities around the country are now tied into the system, which takes calls from and makes calls to thousands of crime victims each day.
"If you talk with a crime victim, the biggest frustration they have is the lack of information. This empowers them to keep track of that information themselves," said Rick Jones, spokesman for Appriss Inc., the Louisville-based operator of the system.
The other states linked to the system are Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. States pay Appriss an annual fee based on the size of their jail populations and other factors. Oregon is paying $338,000 a year.
In Oregon, the newly launched system includes data on more than 41,000 felony and misdemeanor offenders under state supervision, including those on parole and probation. By October, the system will add 7,500 juveniles and criminals who are in county jails.
Sutton said she has called VINE several times to check on Gill's status since she became the first Oregon resident to register for the system earlier this month.
Sutton's son, Christopher, was shot to death in 1998 weeks before he was to begin his freshman year at the University of Alabama on a football scholarship. Police said it was a case of mistaken identity. The killer is serving a life sentence without parole.
Sutton said she is afraid that the law might be changed someday to allow early release for people like Gill.
"He's put me in a position where I always have to know where he is," she said. "I'm always going to find out if he's up for parole or if his time has been reduced."
Julie Hedden's father, Paul Rivenes, 63, was stabbed to death in 1996 during a robbery of the family's grocery store. The Portland woman has immediate access to information on the three men convicted in the slaying.
"You feel so lost for such a long time," she said. "This system gives the victim some sense of power. I know for me personally, it's helping me find my way back."
