Mistaken phone calls disturb crime victims

An automated system notified thousands that inmates had been released.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Thousands of Ohio crime victims received calls from a computer notification system Friday mistakenly telling them inmates had been released, a state prisons spokesman said.
The prisons department's computer system that tracks the release of inmates was undergoing maintenance by agency employees Thursday night when a file listing inmates' names was activated and accidentally sent to a contractor that handles the automated notifications.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction was double-checking to ensure that no inmates were accidentally released but none appeared to have been, spokesman Brian Niceswanger said. The system does not trigger a release procedure. Only the DRC or a prison official can do that, he said.
What happened
About 3,000 calls were made starting at noon Friday, he said, and the system was shut down about an hour later when concerned crime victims started calling the agency.
The department received dozens of calls from victims, Niceswanger said. The list of inmates in the file appeared to be random, ranging from the most dangerous to those who committed lesser crimes, he said.
"Somehow a file containing a list of people who obviously aren't going to be released got sent to the company," he said.
The contractor, Louisville, Ky.-based Appriss Inc., activates the system when it receives a signal to do so from the computer in Ohio, spokesman Rick Jones said. The company received the file Thursday night, but the calls went out later because of a normal function that prevents calls at odd hours.
Appriss serves about 1,500 criminal justice agencies nationwide.
Following up
Late Friday afternoon, Appriss determined who had been called and began making follow-up calls to tell the victims of the mistake, Jones said. The system was brought back up and would be watched through the weekend, he said.
Officials were trying to find out how many inmates were involved because some had multiple victims or victims put others on the notification list.
An investigation by department computer specialists continued late Friday, but the cause of the mistake had not been found, Niceswanger said.
"We're looking at what happened last night and why, and what can be done so it doesn't happen again," he said.
Employees in the agency's victim services unit planned to work late Friday and Saturday to handle calls from victims and tell them of the error.
"For the most part, they are relieved and most of them understand accidents happen," Niceswanger said.
Charles Humphrey, of Newark, on the notification list because a relative had been sexually assaulted by a man now imprisoned, said he got a call then tried unsuccessfully to contact the victim services unit. He said the timing was unusual because he was preparing to travel out of state to bring the relative to his home for the New Year's holiday.
"It was just kind of freaky. I thought they did let him out," Humphrey said.
The attorney general's victim services office also received a few calls. The agency was aware of the error and assured victims that the call was a mistake, said Kim Norris, a spokeswoman who said she took one of the calls herself.
"We told them not to worry. The individual was not getting out. I spoke to one who said, 'OK, thank you,"' Norris said.
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