Fla. Crime Victims Can Now Keep Track Of Criminals

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By WPBF

Published: 08/06/2003

Victims of violence in Florida can now find out what happens to their attacker after the trial and sentencing. Sheriff's departments throughout the state are starting to use a tracking system to provide up-to-the-minute information about violent criminals.
Palm Beach County is already using the system, which notifies crime victims of an inmate's location, transfer, escape, death or release. It's a state-funded program, and all a county has to do is pay for the cost to convert their jail data to the new system.
The program is a big relief to victims like Sharon D'Eusanio. In 1980, the mother of three was shot, stabbed, sexually assaulted and left for dead. Her attacker, a repeat offender, is now serving a 104-year prison sentence. But D'Eusanio wants reassurance the man is still behind bars.
'Always in the back of my mind, I wonder, where is he?' D'Eusanio said.
Now she and other crime victims can have that question answered. Mark Lazarus. of the Florida Department of Corrections, said more than 50 Florida sheriffs are implementing the Victim Information and Notification Everyday -- or VINE -- System in their local jails.
'(It) allows victims to be notified when offenders are transferred to other institutions, when they're released or should they escape,' Lazarus said.
Registering for the VINE System is fairly easy. According to Lazarus, all a user has to do is provide a telephone number, including the area code, where they can be reached for notification. If the status of an offender changes at any time, the victim will be notified within 15 minutes.
'If the victim is not contacted, the system will continue to make the calls and attempt to locate and contact that victim and make the notification,' Lazarus said.
The system is also popular with law enforcement officials like Sheriff Robert Crowder of Martin County.
'A victim never receives closure -- they just move on -- and this system will allow a victim to maintain some level of control in their lives, to at least have access to that information,' Crowder said.
D'Eusanio, who was blinded by the attack on her, said she accessed the VINE System for the first time Monday night. She said she got a status update on her attacker and learned that he won't be eligible for release until the year 2058.

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