TopofemailSharing Our Stake in Maryland's Public SafetyJune 2011

        The Public Safety Stakeholder
all iconsAn E-publication of the 
Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services 
for our Criminal Justice and Community Partners 
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 DPSCS' mission is to protect the public, our employees and those under our supervision.

Seal
Governor Martin O'Malley
 Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown
 DPSCS Secretary Gary D. Maynard  

 

 
Horse shelter
A new run-in shelter at Second Chances Farm, where inmates care for retired race horses, gives rescued animals refuge from unexpected weather

This Month's Featured Stories:

Gavel  keeping communities safe 

KCStop2Parole and Probation Agent Honored for Work with Project Exile        

 

As a Field Supervisor I with the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) within the Division of Parole and Probation (DPP), Debbie Gonzalez knows it takes more than one law enforcement agency to keep violent offenders off the streets of Maryland.  She is one of a handful of DPP employees who are part of WatchCenters - daily sharing of intelligence to assist police investigations of supervised offenders. She was recently recognized for her work with Project Exile and Violent Repeat Offenders (VRO) by the US Attorney's Office.   

 

Continued here 

Human Capital  believing in human capital
topbhcstoryLegal Research for Offenders gets Boast from Maryland Correctional Enterprises 

 

Almost six months ago Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE) assumed the responsibility of processing the Library Assistance to State Institutions (LASI) program, now located at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW).  This program provides researched information via LexisNexis software for all inmate requests submitted through institutional Librarians. Since the transfer, six MCE offender employees now turn these requests around in days instead of weeks, saving money as well.

    

Continued here 

PSW  public safety works
PSWtopSecond Chances Farm Expanding 

Several months ago we had an article in the Public Safety Stakeholder requesting donations of lumber for our horse rescue farm.  Thanks to a private donor, the Division of Correction's Second Chances Farm is now expanding.  An offender crew spent the last several weeks building a run-in shed for the four horses that live at the Sykesville, Maryland farm.

The shelter will allow the horses to enjoy the psychological benefits of being outdoors - their natural state - while at the same time providing protection from wind, cold and storms, said Conni Swenson, program coordinator.
 

Continued here

KCScontParole and Probation Agent Honored for Work with Project Exile continued

  

As a comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime, Baltimore Exile combines law enforcement and community efforts to ensure that those who carry guns are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  Gonzalez' role with Project Exile/VRO is to partner and meet with the State's Attorney's office, US Attorney's office and VCIS (Violent Crime Impact Section) detectives to develop

Gonzalez exile award

From left to right: US Attorney Rod Rosenstein, DPP Field Supervisor I Debbie Gonzalez, DPP Intel Unit Adminstrator Donald Leatherwood, Jr. and DPP Director Pat McGee

strategies to remove identified dangerous offenders from the community. She identifies the ones under Parole or Probation supervision, ensures they are supervised in VPI, and expedites court or Parole Commission action against them once they violate their conditions of release.  

 

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has partnered with the US Attorney's Office on Exile as well as efforts such as rooting out gangs in our correctional system, assisting them with the identification and prosecution of several Black Gorilla Family (BGF) members over the past few years.  Partnerships with outside law enforcement are making a difference by opening lines of communications and combining limited resources to accomplish similar goals.

 

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bhccontLegal Research for Offenders Gets Boost from Maryland Correctional Enterprises continued

 

The Library Assistance to State Institutions (LASI) was designed to ensure all offenders have equal access to legal materials and court opinions.  There is no internet access in prison to receive new caselaw, nor can all inmates access what records are available in prison libraries due to limited access because of institutional jobs, classes or being on segregation, volume of requests and limited resources to share among large populations.   MCE Mail and Distribution Plant
 

With tight budgets the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR), which runs Correctional Education and Libraries in Maryland, and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services put their thinking caps together and came up with a way to handle these LASI requests while also providing job skills - inmates employed by MCE could handle these requests on a full-time basis, saving time and money.  Requests are now routed to the Mail and Distribution Plant at MCIW where they are researched through a non-internet based database that is routinely updated, relevant documents printed and packaged/returned to the inmate requestor that day.

 

Employment in a Maryland Correctional Enterprises plant  gives offenders job experience that mirror that of the private industry.  Upon release research has shown that those with at least one year of employment with MCE are less likely to re-offend than general population offenders without work experience.   


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PSWContSecond Chances Farm Expanding continued

Second Chances is a partnership between the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF). TRF rescues retired thoroughbred racehorses, whose futures are uncertain.

 building run-in shelter

Inmates employed at the farm care for these horses, giving them work experience while also learning to care for another living creature. Swenson also teaches classes in equine care, and through TRF, the inmates are able to earn "Groom Elite" certificates upon successful testing.  To date, seven of the Central Maryland Correctional Facility inmates who have worked at the farm earned the "Groom Elite" certificates.

 

A new classroom - also built by inmates - allowed the class to really focus on its curriculum this past winter, resulting in five proud graduates, Swenson said.

 

"Our horses are healthy and thriving and we are focusing on future expansion which will allow us to help more horses as well as our students," Swenson said.  One recently-release inmate who completed the certification wanted to continue learning and is now taking college courses, she said.

 

A ribbon-cutting for the new run-in shelter was held on June 22, 2011 with DPSCS Secretary Gary D. Maynard who launched the program in May 2009. Funding for another large pasture is expected soon. With more room, the farm could take on more horses and students, Swenson said.

 

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