Sheriff uses new jail phones to fight crime
Sheriff Terry Maketa's latest crime-fighting weapon is nothing more than a telephone, or rather, 172 phones.
Calls made by inmates at the Criminal Justice Center now are recorded after inmates register a fingerprint for identification and enter a personal identification number (PIN).
Believe it or not, despite a message warning that calls are recorded, inmates use phones to perpetrate or plan crimes, Maketa said.
"We're able to track down what they're doing, like plotting to escape," he said. "It's turned into quite an investigative and intelligence tool."
The system, which became fully functional in January, has helped not only sheriff's investigators but also those of other agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and the Colorado Springs Police Department.
And the system doesn't cost taxpayers anything.
Phone vendor, Global Tel-Link, which paid for the added features, makes money from the collect calls inmates make.
Inmates in general-population wards have access to phones in the wards except during lockdowns when they're confined to cells.
Higher security wards don't have phones.
Inmates aren't charged for calls to their attorneys.
Maketa heard about the monitoring technology a couple of years ago, and added the first feature, recording, soon after. The PIN and fingerprint technology were added more recently.
The technology has enabled officials to determine who's running a phone scam from jail. In the past, proving who did it was difficult, because only video recordings were available - no help when an inmate's back is to the camera.
The same was true of harassment or threats.
"They would call a co-conspirator or a victim," Maketa said. "That person might report it to the district attorney, but there was no evidence what was said or who made the call."
But now, Maketa has a "gotcha" tool.
When an inmate places a finger on a pad on the phone, it matches with jail records and snaps a photograph of the inmate to boot.
"We've gotten tipped off to possible assaults getting ready to take place in the jail," Maketa said. "Someone tries to make arrangements with someone on the outside to have someone in the jail hurt or killed by another inmate in another ward."
Inmates also have been known to use phones to discuss the crimes for which they're in jail pending trial. Recordings make dandy evidence, he said.
In February, investigators handled 21 cases originating in the jail and in many, phone records were key, Maketa said, among them identity theft, harassment, smuggling contraband into the jail and drug use.
"Now we know who made the phone call," he said.
For investigators, it's a dream come true. "We're putting the systems in to make it easier," he said.
-
Call Zubeck at 636-0238
