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| Communication failures cited in southern Nevada inmate releases |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/05/2004 |
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The botched release of inmates from prison in southern Nevada last year could have been prevented if state jailers had received more timely, accurate information on the inmates' criminal cases, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Child molester Steven Perry, 38, was released by the Nevada Department of Corrections in November because of the time it took to send paperwork from District Court to the state prison system. In a similar case, murder suspect Ivan R. Garcia was released from prison in 2003 when a Las Vegas police detainer that ordered Garcia to remain in prison had expired. The expired detainer was never updated, according to the Department of Corrections. Garcia was released to immigration officials for deportation but since has been returned to custody. Jackie Crawford, director of the state Department of Corrections, said the cases demonstrate a breakdown in communication between the prison system and public safety agencies in Southern Nevada. "Communicate, communicate, communicate," Crawford said. "That's what we have got to do." Crawford and Clark County District Attorney David Roger said they are scheduling a series of meetings with public safety leaders in Southern Nevada to address the issue. In 2002, Eighth Judicial District Court administrators proposed the implementation of a computer system in Clark County called the Multi-County Integrated Justice Information System, or MC-IJIS. The system was developed by Nevada Supreme Court administrators in an attempt to link by computer all public safety agencies in Nevada. The system would allow police, prosecutors, the courts and jailers to immediately access information on warrants, detainers, sentences, criminal histories and arrests on any particular defendant. "This system will help keep the criminals off the streets, and we will be better aware of when they are supposed to be released," said Ron Titus, director of the Administrative office of the Courts for the Nevada Supreme Court. Police, prosecutors, the detention center and state prison facilities in Clark County all utilize different computer systems to keep track of criminal cases. This means each individual agency, in order to communicate, often has to mail to each other paperwork detailing developments on criminal cases. The system, court officials and jailers say, is badly outdated and prone to human error. "It's amazing we work as efficiently as we do with what we have," District Judge Kathy Hardcastle said. |
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