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Crimes By Furloughed Inmates Raise Alarm

Burlington, Vermont -- August 20, 2003

A recent string of crimes in Burlington is raising fears -- and questions about the state's probation system. The most serious violent crimes in Vermont's largest city tend to have one thing in common -- the suspects who were charged with those crimes had been in trouble before and were on some form of supervised release from prison. Some officials believe the probation system needs a fundamental shakeup.

Take a look at almost any serious crime, as we did, and you'll find that it wouldn't have happened if the defendant had obeyed his or her release conditions. For now we limited our check to crimes that occurred in Burlington. As recently as two nights ago, a stolen Burlington police cruiser was crashed into a King street bar after the driver had just stolen it. The next day the judge sent the youth that police arrested, 17-year old Jeffrey Leduc, to jail without bail because he violated four prior release conditions.

Crimes minor and major -- ranging up to homicide such as a drug-related killing on Pine street -- share one aspect. "The common theme is that the participants were in some control of the department of corrections, living in the community at the time that these offenses occurred," Burlington police lieutenant Walt Decker told Channel 3.

Decker counts three homicides and multiple lesser crimes all within the last year leading to charges against inmates, most of whom had been placed in the community corrections program after serving their minimum sentences. Decker says the community program needs significantly more manpower.

"Probably having the resources to make sure that that supervision is constant and on-going, nights, weekends, those types of scenarios."

Mayor Peter Clavelle said bluntly, "The system appears to be broke."

Two shootings this month -- one on North street following a day-long confrontation between two groups of men and one inside a restaurant during a fight -- were the last straw for the mayor.

"It boggles my mind that in almost every case these folks are under corrections supervision," he said. "So I think all of us have to step back and ask, what's going on here?"

Clavelle wrote a letter to corrections commissioner Steven Gold critical of the lack of resources to keep furloughed offenders out of trouble and proposing a "public safety summit" of law enforcement officials. Gold is on vacation, but newly appointed deputy corrections commissioner Sister Janice Ryan said surprise roundups of furloughed inmates who are found in violation of their conditions will be resurrected. Similar sweeps in the past have netted offenders and sent a message.

In a report last year, Corrections found that out of fifteen-hundred furloughed inmates, eighteen percent were charged with new crimes after violating their conditions. That's enough to resume the roundups, Ryan said. "As recently as this morning we were meeting again on it," Ryan said. "So that the frequency with which it's used will be increased immediately."

Andy Potter - Channel 3 News