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Trenton
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced
today that the Division of Criminal Justice
- Office of Victim Witness Advocacy is expanding
its Victim Information and Notification
(VINE) Program. VINE, a national and statewide
computer-based communication program, allows
victims to register with state and county
law enforcement agencies to receive notification
information on an offender’s custody
status.
According to Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw, the VINE program, which has been
fully operational in New Jersey on the county
level since 2005, is now integrating the
Department of Corrections and the State
Parole Board. This new implementation will
enable crime victims to use their telephones
or the Internet to find the status of an
offender within these departments' systems.
“New Jersey has always been at the
forefront when advocating for crime victims,”
Attorney General Rabner said. “The
expansion of the partnership between VINE
and New Jersey’s Department of Corrections
and the State Parole Board gives crime victims
broader access to knowing the whereabouts
of offenders.”
"The New Jersey Department of Corrections
is pleased to partner with the Attorney
General's Office in the very laudable effort
of keeping crime victims apprised of the
status and location of offenders,"
said Commissioner George Hayman.
“The State Parole Board’s website
now links crime victims directly to the
VINE searchable database,” Parole
Board Chairman Peter J. Barnes Jr. said.
“We are proud to offer victims this
new information portal.”
Sandra
McGowan, Chief of the Office of Victim-Witness
Advocacy, noted that in 1998, four New Jersey
counties - Atlantic, Monmouth, Union and
Morris - were among the first in the nation
to begin using VINE. In 2007, the VINE program
is up and running in 19 counties. Since
its inception, the VINE has been searched
more than 250,000 times. The program provides
vital information and notification 24 hours,
365 days a year.
More information about the VINE program
can be found at: www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/victimwitness
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