Catching criminals in NC goes mobile

Raleigh, N.C. — Catching criminals in North Carolina has gotten a little easier for law enforcement officers across the state.

The Office of the State Controller on Wednesday released a new mobile-friendly website that will help the more than 22,000 criminal justice professionals across the state immediately access information on their smartphones or tablet computers about offenders.

The information is already available in a Web-based system called CJLEADS, which officers have access to on their laptops, but the mobile version allows users to use it in different settings out in the field – for example, officers on patrol at a concert without a laptop.

CJLEADS, which stands for Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services, is relatively new in North Carolina.

The state started testing the system in Wake County in 2010 and completed a roll-out across the state this year.

Unlike the state's old computer system, it draws data from across the criminal justice system and presents it in a user-friendly format and allows users to customize it for their own needs.

A parole officer, for example, could set up alerts to be notified whenever an offender they are tracking is arrested.

The system has also been used at the North Carolina State Fair to identify registered sex offenders, track habitual DWI offenders and identify criminals in traffic stops, among other uses.

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Heavye,

I can see that those restraints might not fit the ‘skill set’ of the typical retired LEO....

About assigning blame for the actions of the probationers, I don’t see how anyone – other than the person on probation or, by extension, his attorney – can blame the probation officer for other offenses.

It’s possible that some of these folks simply can’t change their ways. As my wise old Dad used to say, “You just can’t get blood out of a turnip.” He would smile, then add, “But, sometimes you can get an abundance of turnip juice.”

Perhaps, in some cases, the legal system should not have let them out in the first place....

Prison space does seem to be limited. Maybe we could out-source confinement to offshore countries. Let someone spend a year or so in a jail in Turkey, for example, and they might just clean up their act when they get back home....

;-)

STS

SailbadTheSinner
August 3, 2012 9:45 a.m.

STS, The work is not hard at all, even though the powers that be require a 4 year degree. As with most jobs in the corrections field we are considered; police, therapist, treatment providers, marriage counselors and parents, all of this when our agency and legislators tells us that we must try and assist these people complete probation at all costs due to the fact that the prisons are full. On the other side of the coin you have the victims calling wanting their money for restitution and the public calling telling us that john doe is selling or using drugs and due to the justice reinvestment laws, we as probation officers can only send someone to jail for up to 90 days at a time. Then you and I as tax payers see the aweful news such as what happened with Eve Carson, there is no easy solution to the problem with crime, but there is always an easy scapegoat if the person is on probation. What didn't the officer do to prevent it? Not,what the person who did it did wrong, he was a victim!

heavye
August 2, 2012 7:38 p.m.

Heavye,

It’s difficult for us out here in e-land to accept that ‘we just wouldn’t understand.’

We hear that all too many times – from our doctors, from our leaders, from our car mechanics, from our TV repairmen, etc....

But actually, some of us – certainly not me, but some – are quite clever....

Please DO try to explain.

I know that it’s difficult to really explain too much with a 1K limit on letters, but anything might help....

I mean, Hapd did appear to have a very good suggestion – at least on a superficial level. Clearly, the level of recidivism is quite high so there’s the motivation....

If there’s more to know, we’d definitely like to hear it....

Many thanx,

STS

SailbadTheSinner
August 2, 2012 6:22 p.m.

As a current probation officer for over 20 years, I have seen very few retired L.E.O.'s that come to this department that stay. Unless you do this type work you just wouldn't understand, so I won't try and explain it.

heavye
August 2, 2012 4:28 p.m.

I suppose they will be accessing all that good data while driving.