NCJ Number
198845
Date Published
2001
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This report presents information on the Victim Notification Program of the New York State Department of Correctional Services for 2001.
Abstract
"Victim Notice" is a form prescribed by the commissioner of corrections and distributed by the district attorney prior to sentencing. On the form, a victim or a family member of a victim may indicate a demand that he/she be advised of the escape or absconding, discharge, or parole of any inmate convicted of a crime of which he/she or a family member was a victim; a recent addition to the law has added notification in the case of an inmate involvement in a temporary work release program. Data in this report show that as of December 31, 2001, 7,106 inmates had at least one victim notification request on file. Of these inmates, 84 percent were committed for violent felony offenses. A total of 248 of the inmates with victim notifications on file were women offenders, including 186 committed for violent felonies. Of the inmates with victim notifications on file, 58 percent were from the five counties of New York City, and 18 percent were from Upstate Urban Counties. As of December 31, 2001, 16.3 percent of violent felons in prison had at least one notification request on file, the highest percentage of such felons since the department began tracking this statistic in 1994. In calendar year 2001, 2,497 certified notification letters were sent to victims upon the release of the inmate they had registered against. The number of new registrations for phone notification increased from 1,438 in 1999 to 2,196 in 2001. 5 tables and appended forms