Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Sheriff's Department Using Technology to Let Defendants Get Out of Jail Before Trial

Aired September 18, 2002 - 05:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: In one Florida county, a sheriff's department is using technology to let defendants get out of jail before they go to trial and at that same time, the program discourages them from breaking the law. How?
Mark Potter reports satellites and computers have something to do with it. Here's the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Seminole County, Florida, north of Orlando, a college student arrested for alleged drug possession studies at home wearing a court-ordered ankle bracelet. It's part of a new type of satellite monitoring program that keeps an eye on defendants and their movements before trial. For this young man, the bracelet is a constant reminder he is being watched and to stay out of trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does keep me from going to some places that I would normally go to, you know, getting into trouble or hanging out with other people who I shouldn't be hanging out with.

POTTER: The Seminole County Sheriff's Department says this program is the first of its kind nationwide. What makes it unique is that defendants' daily movements are compared with computerized crime reports to help determine if any of them may have broken the law before they go to trial. If so, they go back to jail.

Here, a crime scene is in purple, the defendant is in red.

CYNTHIA JOINER, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, CRIME ANALYST: The red dots represent an offender that was in the area at that particular moment when the offense occurred.

POTTER (on camera): OK, but that doesn't convict him?

JOINER: Correct. At this, in this particular instance, what we do is then hand this over to the investigator investigating the case and he or she would then just follow up on the information and determine whether or not it's valid information.

POTTER (voice-over): County Judge John Sloop believes the bracelet is an effective tool for preventing repeat crime.

JUDGE JOHN SLOOP, SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I think it's a good idea. This is kind of like where an orthodontist will put braces on crooked teeth, where it asserts a gentle pressure over time and eventually they straighten out.

POTTER: In some cases, the bracelets are offered in lieu of bail to defendants who otherwise couldn't afford to get out of jail before trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just makes sense. It just, it gives the individual the ability to earn a living. It gives the individual the ability to be with his family and support the family. And we want that.

POTTER: Because it frees more prisoners, the monitoring program has even won measured support from the ACLU.

HOWARD SIMON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA ACLU: And what we're talking about here is a program that might help reduce the terrible levels of incarceration. That is a major problem we have in this country.

POTTER: For this young man the price of freedom is that he is always monitored.

Mark Potter, CNN, Seminole County, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Get Out of Jail Before Trial>


Aired September 18, 2002 - 05:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: In one Florida county, a sheriff's department is using technology to let defendants get out of jail before they go to trial and at that same time, the program discourages them from breaking the law. How?
Mark Potter reports satellites and computers have something to do with it. Here's the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Seminole County, Florida, north of Orlando, a college student arrested for alleged drug possession studies at home wearing a court-ordered ankle bracelet. It's part of a new type of satellite monitoring program that keeps an eye on defendants and their movements before trial. For this young man, the bracelet is a constant reminder he is being watched and to stay out of trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does keep me from going to some places that I would normally go to, you know, getting into trouble or hanging out with other people who I shouldn't be hanging out with.

POTTER: The Seminole County Sheriff's Department says this program is the first of its kind nationwide. What makes it unique is that defendants' daily movements are compared with computerized crime reports to help determine if any of them may have broken the law before they go to trial. If so, they go back to jail.

Here, a crime scene is in purple, the defendant is in red.

CYNTHIA JOINER, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, CRIME ANALYST: The red dots represent an offender that was in the area at that particular moment when the offense occurred.

POTTER (on camera): OK, but that doesn't convict him?

JOINER: Correct. At this, in this particular instance, what we do is then hand this over to the investigator investigating the case and he or she would then just follow up on the information and determine whether or not it's valid information.

POTTER (voice-over): County Judge John Sloop believes the bracelet is an effective tool for preventing repeat crime.

JUDGE JOHN SLOOP, SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I think it's a good idea. This is kind of like where an orthodontist will put braces on crooked teeth, where it asserts a gentle pressure over time and eventually they straighten out.

POTTER: In some cases, the bracelets are offered in lieu of bail to defendants who otherwise couldn't afford to get out of jail before trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just makes sense. It just, it gives the individual the ability to earn a living. It gives the individual the ability to be with his family and support the family. And we want that.

POTTER: Because it frees more prisoners, the monitoring program has even won measured support from the ACLU.

HOWARD SIMON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA ACLU: And what we're talking about here is a program that might help reduce the terrible levels of incarceration. That is a major problem we have in this country.

POTTER: For this young man the price of freedom is that he is always monitored.

Mark Potter, CNN, Seminole County, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Get Out of Jail Before Trial>