Maryland Enhancing Victim Notification System

Towson, MD (August 22, 2019) Already a leader nationwide in services to victims of crime, Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is ready to upgrade its victim notification system to add even more features.

Since 2000, Maryland DPSCS and the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention have used the VINE system—Victim Information and Notification Everyday— to offer timely and confidential alerts to registered crime victims about the status of their offender in the system.

Forty-eight states use VINE, but Maryland is the only state to use all of VINE’s services, which span every phase of an offender’s movement through the criminal justice system, from jail to release and Parole and Probation supervision.

Enhancements to vine include more user-friendly features for victims that will enable them to access even more victim services while keeping track of their offender’s movement through the system.

The enhancements will be phased-in, with completion of the new VINE system scheduled for 2020.

“Giving victims the power to track an offender is important in keeping and furthering the trust between victims and the Criminal Justice System,” says DPSCS Secretary Robert L. Green.

24 Agents Graduate from
Parole and Probation Academy

Maryland added 24 new warriors to the front lines of public safety on July 19, when the Division of Parole and Probation held another Agent Academy graduation.

Parole and Probation is a critical public safety component statewide, and one of the largest divisions within the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. More than one thousand people work in Parole and Probation, as agents, Drinking Driver Program monitors, investigators, Home Detention Unit case managers, and clerical and support staff.

The agents who graduated on July 19 will work in 15 different offices across the state. Their training included seven weeks of classroom learning, mock court hearings, and physical training, as well as extensive field training in the offices in which they’ll be working.

Parole and Probation supervises more than 40-thousand people in all corners of Maryland, including those sentenced by the courts to probation and those released from prison, either by the Parole Commission, the courts, or by mandatory supervision guidelines.

“We are public safety,” said Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Robert Green, who spoke of a unified department with a goal of reducing recidivism and increasing programs and services.

The new agents also heard a message of thanks and inspiration from Martha Danner, Director of Parole and Probation, who’s a 33-year veteran of the agency.

Each received his or her official law enforcement badge after taking the Oath of Office.

Census 2020: You Can Shape The Future

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