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 Sharing Our Stake in Maryland's Public Safety | January 2013 |
The Public Safety Stakeholder
 An E-publication of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for our Criminal Justice and Community Partners |
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Did You See Us
In The News?
Recent sightings of our public safety efforts in your local media are updated daily on the DPSCS homepage
Recent headlines:
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There are more ways than ever to find up-to-date information about DPSCS initiatives, happenings and news. Like us on  , follow us on  and view videos and photos on  and 
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DPSCS' mission is to protect the public, our employees and those under our supervision.
Governor Martin O'Malley Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown
DPSCS Secretary Gary D. Maynard |
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A Public Safety Works project in conjunction with Living Classrooms is a win-win for all involved.
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 | keeping communities safe |
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Livescan Technology Key to Expanding Regional Intake for Sentenced Offenders
The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) has used technology to enhance services and supervision in various ways since the current administration arrived in 2007. The Criminal Justice Dashboard for example created in 2008 by the Information, Technology and Communications Division (ITCD) has won numerous national awards for simplifying law enforcement's access to background on an offender from over 100 previously separate databases. Kiosks installed at all Community Supervision offices are freeing up valuable agent time while also adding a layer of supervision for those serving sentences in the community. And a $15 million investment in a web-based case management system will bring together demographic, security and programming information to streamline case-planning from intake to release.
One technological tool that has found many uses throughout DPSCS is the Livescan machine. It's most recent installment in correctional facilities around the state will soon benefit local detention centers in a big way.
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Hope Hounds at Roxbury Correctional Institution
The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is a leader in restorative justice projects with animals which allow inmates to pay society back while developing critical "softer" skills and around-the-clock responsibilities. With service dog programs run by America's VetDogs and Canine Partners for Life, and a retired horse farm in partnership with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Maryland inmates stay busy caring for four-legged friends.
And now there's a new program "behind the wire." Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown recently began a dog adoption program with HOPE - Hounds of Prison Education - a Pennsylvania-based non-profit that takes dogs with difficult backgrounds and turns them into great adoptable pets. The inmates are the folks who make them adoptable.
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 | public safety works |
Living Classrooms Providing Work for Offenders, Developing Mentoring Academy to Help Upon Release
The educational and hands-on professional development non-profit Living Classrooms Foundation is hard at work assisting Baltimore City's ex-offender population through a new Mentoring Academy and Training Center. With the help of grant funding, the newly created program, which already has 55 students who were recently released from facilities in the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services' (DPSCS) central region, will provide mentoring, employment assistance, education, health and mental health care access, family mediation and food/clothing/transportation assistance to boost reentry and reduce recidivism.
Prior to getting out of prison though, many offenders get a chance to give back to the community while learning job skills through DPSCS' Public Safety Works (PSW) projects - one of which is currently helping Living Classrooms get the space for the Mentoring Academy up and running.
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Livescan Technology Key to Expanding Regional Intake for Sentenced Offenders continued
With the implementation of Maryland's Automated Fingerprint Identification System (MAFIS), also completed by DPSCS' ITCD in 2008, the use of paper and ink fingerprinting is long gone. Livescan machines digitally capture finger and palm prints to quickly match a person to their criminal record. In 2011 DPSCS installed Livescans in all Community Supervision offices to fill a gap in offender RAP sheets - agents can now simply scan offenders upon intake and enable law enforcement to see their parole/probation status. Livescans and a similar tool called Fast ID were also added to intake and release facilities, such as Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center (MRDCC), and Maryland Correctional Institution for Women for fast and accurate identification of offenders. 
Just this month, four new machines are making their way to outlying correctional facilities to help cut down on local detention center travel time when sending a state sentenced offender to a DPSCS facility.
Western Correctional Institution (WCI) in Cumberland is the first to use livescans for regional intake. Rather than Allegany and Garrett County detention center driving offenders to MRDCC in Baltimore for intake, they now travel just down the road to WCI.
"It's saving the locals staff time and travel expenses, so they were open to the suggestion," says North Region Director of Corrections Rod Sowers. "These new livescan machines are making it possible to do the intake process right here in the region, with the added benefit of fast identification and information gathering on the new inmate."
While WCI only has a small portion of the state's intakes with an estimated 50 per year from Allegany and Garrett, the new intake locations in Hagerstown, Jessup and the Eastern Shore will save locals hundreds of trips to Baltimore City. New machines have arrived at each location, with installation and training planned over the next few months.
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Hope Hounds at Roxbury Correctional Institution continued
Although the program only recently began, several dogs have already been successfully trained by the inmates and adopted by  local families. Warden Gregg Hershberger says the new alliance with HOPE Hounds has been a good one, and the prison may consider expanding from the current five dogs at a time this spring.
Earlier this month, HOPE held its first community meet and greet at a Hagerstown Petsmart, where folks could come out and learn about the program - and consider adopting one of the dogs the inmates are currently training. HOPE Hounds Director Kelly McGinley - who herself has a dog that was "paroled" from the prison - says the partnership with DPSCS has been a fulfilling one.
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Living Classrooms Providing Work for Offenders, Developing Mentoring Academy to Help Upon Release continued
On the opposite side of the JFX from DPSCS' correctional and detention facilities in Baltimore City, the location of the Mentoring Academy is an old church multi-purpose building. Under the direction of a contractor, a crew of three pre-release offenders from
the Baltimore Pre-Release Unit for Men began painting and refurbishing crumbling walls and floors, while also revamping the layout to fit the needs of the Academy, during the fall of 2012. In addition to meeting/classroom space, the building will also house a cafe and boutique where a local tailor is donating services to help the men dress for success.
The crew learns jobs skills, in the highly coveted construction field, that can be applied to employment upon release as well as soft skills such as reporting to a supervisor. Some of the crew members may even find their way into the Academy that they helped build.
The partnership is undoubtedly a win-win for both DPSCS and Living Classrooms. The Mentoring Academy is giving the very population they hope to impact a boost prior to release, while DPSCS is able to expand Public Safety Works opportunities that give offenders the chance to give back to society.
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