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Description of LCCC assailant
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.
Are you on the
Do Not Call List
?

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