The Greening of Probation

• NCJ Number: 228693
• Date Published: October 2009
• Length: 2 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-MU-CX-K077
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Award: Operation of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)

Annotation

This report describes how the New York City Department of Probation's Web-based Reusable Case Management System (RCMS) has virtually eliminated the use of paper, printing supplies, and other resources needed to meet the requirement to deliver offender reports to judges prior to sentencing hearings.

Abstract

The department processes approximately 45,000 adult presentence investigation reports and 7,000 juvenile investigation and recommendation reports annually for delivery to court. Prior to the installation of RCMS, staff keyed reports on a manual typewriter or into a word-processing template in order to produce 7 paper copies of each report (an average of 15 pages per document). Since the installation of RCMS, these reports are sent to court electronically and delivered into the court's inboxes. The court clerk distributes the reports to the judges. These reports compose only one of the many components/modules of RCMS. The first phase, which was implemented in 2005, is a kiosk system that enables low-risk offenders to report to their supervising officers electronically (using hand biometrics as identification) instead of coming to the probation office to meet with the case officer. This enables probation officers to spend more time with high-risk offenders. RCMS also provides real-time information exchange with various State and Federal criminal justice agencies in National Information exchange Model 2.0 XML format. It has executive "dashboard" and management reporting capabilities that enable the viewing of the current status of a project. Through RCMS the department can share critical information in emergencies and support daily operations.