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Description of LCCC assailant
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Automated
system will alert crime victims when suspects released
from county jail
bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055
If you’ve ever been the victim of a crime, the question
may have crossed your mind: Is the suspect still in jail
or back on the streets?
A new system will
make it easier to find out.
Calling it the
“next generation of victims’ services,”
Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll
on Wednesday announced the launch of an automated system
that would notify crime victims when perpetrators are
released from the county jail.
The alerts will
come via immediate automated phone calls placed to a phone
number of the victim’s choosing every 15 minutes
for 24 hours until confirmation the message has been received.
Victims can also receive e-mail notifications.
Officials say the
alert system — known as Statewide Automated Victim
Information and Notification, or SAVIN — is free
and available to anyone 24 hours a day. Users just need
to register by calling a toll-free number or going to
the system’s Web site.
“This is going
to help everyone in this room, every victim and everyone
in this community,” Musto Carroll said at a Wednesday
morning press conference at the Luzerne County Courthouse.
“SAVIN gives victims a sense of security, comfort
and peace of mind.”
Lynn Gera, 28,
a victim of several protection from abuse violations,
stood before a crowd of about 100 people in the courthouse
rotunda and hailed the new system.
Previously, prison
employees would call a victim when the inmate was released,
transferred or had escaped. There was no guarantee the
person would be notified if the initial calls didn’t
reach the victim.
The first time
the subject of Gera’s protection for abuse order
was released, she got the call. The second time, she didn’t.
Only after days of worrying and hearing rumors did she
find out for sure. She wished she knew right away.
“It’s
comforting. It will help with fear and anxiety,”
Gera said of the new system.
Luzerne County
becomes the 33rd county in the state to implement SAVIN.
B.J. Horn, director
of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s
Victims’ Services office, said knowing immediately
that the inmate was released would give victims time to
avoid chance encounters with the suspect and take shelter.
“The day you
implement SAVIN, you will be light years ahead of where
you were the day before,” she said.
SAVIN insures victims
are not alone in worrying about the whereabouts of suspects
because friends and family are encouraged to sign up to
receive alerts and notify victims, Horn said.
“With SAVIN,
anyone who is concerned about the victim’s safety,
can register,” she said. |
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Are
you on the
Do Not Call List ?
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Pennsylvanians tired of telemarketers got some relief five
years ago when the state legislature passed the Do Not Call
law in 2002. The federal government followed suit two years
later, establishing the National Do Not Call Registry.
For those people who signed up first on the Pennsylvania list,
it’s time to re-register. The federal and state Do Not
Call registries only last five years. Each list works differently,
but serves the same goal.
As Thomas Ruskey, chief of staff for state Rep. John Yudichak,
D-Nanticoke, said “It makes sense to be on both, because
they’re both free and it can only help.”
Registering by Sept. 15 on the Pennsylvania list guarantees
that telemarketers cannot call your home or cell phone by
Nov. 1. Telemarketers who do call could face $1,000 fine,
which can increase to $3,000 if the telephone number belongs
to a person and $3,000 if the call is placed to a person 60
or older and is on the Do Not Call List.
The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office maintains
the state Do Not Call List. The Federal Trade Commission maintains
the national one.
You can register at the state level by calling 1-888-777-3406
or www.attorneygeneral.gov.
Register on the federal level at www.donotcall.gov.
Elderly Scam Alert
Police are warning elderly residents of a possible phone scam
involving the updating of Medicare cards.
Sgt. Joe Guydosh said
two elderly women said possible scammers attempted to obtain
bank account numbers, routing numbers and bank addresses in
the past two to three weeks.
The callers told the
women they were updating Medicare cards, telling one woman a
$370 fee would be charged, Guydosh said.
The women said the scammers
had foreign accents and hung up when one victim began asking
questions.
Anyone who thinks they
may have been a victim or have any information is urged to call
police at 735-2200.
Abandoned Vehicle Ordinance
All residents are reminded that the Nanticoke City Police
Department is continuing to enforce the abandoned vehicle ordinance
15 of 1990 which prohibits on public streets or private property
all vehicles which are left for over 72 hours, with expired
registration or inspection, or any vehicle missing essential
parts. Residents are asked to remove any abandoned vehicle they
may own from public or private property as soon as possible
or face possible towing of vehicle and or fines
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