Looking for the Incommunicado Incarcerated–VINE?

Have you ever wanted to know where a felon or arrested person is located—in jail, the “Big House.”  Now you have a national source to start your search.   

VINELink is the online version of VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday), the National Victim Notification Network. This service allows crime victims to obtain timely and reliable information about criminal cases and the custody status of offenders 24 hours a day. Victims and other concerned citizens can also register to be notified by phone, email or TTY device when an offender’s custody status changes. Users can also register through their participating state or county toll-free number.

Check it out here:  Vinelink.  You can click on the individual state to look up an arrestee custody records. 

 For Virginia:

See VA Vinelink 

an on-line resource that allows you to search for information regarding current custody status of inmates serving sentences in Virginia local and regional jails and the Virginia Department of Corrections.  Local and regional jails will provide automated notification when an offender is released, transferred, or escapes.  Virginia Department of corrections will provide automated notification when an offender is released, transferred, escapes, dies, or has a parole based event.

Events of Interest to Investigators

There are two upcoming events in the Washington, DC area that may be of interest to PIAVA members.

District of Columbia Public Defender’s Office 

November 16, 17, 2007

This week, on November 16 & 17, the District of Columbia Public Defender’s Office will sponsor the annual Deborah T. Creek Criminal Practice Institute.  For those of you who are not familiar with it, this is one of the premier events in the nation for criminal defense attorneys and investigators. You can’t beat the price – it’s FREE – and you can register online.  Full details are available here:

Registration:

http://www.pdsdc.org/Calendar/TrainingDetails.asp?id=40

http://www.pdsdc.org/Calendar/TrainingDetails.asp?id=40Agenda:

As of today, 9 spots are still open for registration.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

December 10 & 11, 2007 

On December 10 and 11, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission will host a public workshop, “Security in Numbers: SSNs and ID Theft,” to explore the uses of Social Security numbers in the private sector and the role of SSNs in identity theft.  This workshop continues the work of the President’s Identity Theft Task Force, and, in particular, its recommendation to explore ways to reduce unnecessary uses of the SSN.  The workshop will provide a forum for public-sector, private-sector, and consumer representatives to discuss the various uses of SSNs by the private sector, the necessity of those uses, alternatives available, the challenges faced by the private sector in moving away from using SSNs, and how SSNs are obtained and used by identity thieves.  The workshop will be free and open to the public. 

Registration is FREE and details can be found at this link.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/ssn/index.shtml

Some individual, bussinesses and organizations sent comments to the FTC.  Check out here:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/ssnprivatesector/index.shtm

Registration is free and can be found at this link:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/ssn/index.shtml.

It is important for private investigators to attend this conference, because the FTC is preparing to promulgate its
recommendations and policies concerning Social Security Number access by the private sector. Those recommendations will most likely have an impact on pending Congressional legislation.

Comments?

Meanwhile, very few comments have been made regarding any posts on this Blog.  Comments are welcomed if they are constructive, and you may want to suggest other interesting topics or issues for research and disscussion.  You can make a comment by looking at the top of a post.  Click on the blue “no comments” button.  Then type away with your comment.

Hey, keep asking questions,

Bill Lowrance

President PIAVA

contact me at president@piava.org