Albany County, NY

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Albany County Executive Mike Breslin announced today an initiative to enhance public safety in our community by strengthening the County’s approach to supervising sex offenders on probation. He was joined by Sheriff James Campbell, Probation Director Patrica Aikens, Mental Health Director Robin Siegal, Ph.D, and Richard M. Hamill, Ph.D., director of Forensic Mental Health Associates, to announce methods to improve supervision of sex offenders in Albany County.

Breslin Announces Approach To Protect Community From Sex Offenders

Proactive Initiative Focuses on Practical, Long-term Plan for Supervision

Albany County Executive Mike Breslin announced today an initiative to enhance public safety in our community by strengthening the County's approach to supervising sex offenders on probation. He was joined by Sheriff James Campbell, Probation Director Patrica Aikens, Mental Health Director Robin Siegal, Ph.D., and Richard M. Hamill, Ph.D., director of Forensic Mental Health Associates, to announce methods to improve supervision of sex offenders in Albany County.

Through collaboration with the County's departments of Probation, Mental Health and Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center, Breslin has identified a three-pronged approach which augments the programs already in place. The new plan, which includes the addition of specialized probation officers, funding for a regional sex offender management program and the implementation of a new assessment system, will advance the strategies to protect the community.

"It is important that we approach the problem of sex offenders in our community in a sensible, proactive way. We have done so in Albany County by looking at new, more collaborative approaches to sex offenders on probation," said Breslin. "This plan provides us with the resources to more precisely evaluate the sex offenders in our jurisdiction, to more effectively supervise sex offenders on probation and improve access to treatment necessary to reduce the likelihood of re-offense."

"Closer monitoring and supervision is warranted due to the situations that have occurred throughout the Country," said Campbell.

Addition of Specialized Probation Officers
Breslin proposes adding two specialized probation officers to manage the caseload of sex offenders in Albany County. There is currently only one probation officer dedicated to managing sex offender cases. The two new positions would bring the number of dedicated officers to three. Under the new proposal, two specialized probation officers would be committed to supervising sex offender caseloads. This would cut individual caseloads in half, increasing the attention each probation officer can give each case, resulting in additional home visits. The third probation officer would specialize in preparation of pre-sentence and pre-disposition investigations for sex offense cases.

Funding for Regional Sex Offender Management Program
Breslin is allocating $20,000 as part of the 2006 Executive Budget to fund the Capital District Coalition for Sex Offender Management (CDCSOM). CDCSOM is a five-county coalition created to improve the supervision of sex offenders in local communities. The coalition includes representatives from probation departments, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, victim services personnel and sex offender treatment professionals from Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties. CDCSOM is a regional program working to improve community safety by creating a collaborative and cohesive multi-disciplinary system for enhancing the investigation, prosecution, supervision and treatment of sex offenders. It uses a victim-centered approach, holds perpetrators accountable and supports efforts to prevent sexual violence. CDCSOM has been funded by state and federal grants which will expire at the end of this year.

"In general, sex offenders respond very well to supervision and treatment. When sex offenders complete a course of specialized therapy, under supervision, their rate of re-offending is cut in half," said Hamill. "Effective sex offender management requires the collaboration of professionals from a variety of disciplines: law enforcement, prosecution, community supervision, mental health and victim advocates. This project is effective because it brings all of these professionals to the table, to work on our common goal -- making our communities safer."

Breslin is also calling upon the leaders of the other counties participating in this regional program to ensure it continues. The regional approach to sex offender management has resulted in increased communication among jurisdictions and ensured that supervision is continuous as offenders move from county to county.

Implementation of Canadian Risk Assessment System
Albany County Probation Department will implement the Static 99 objective risk assessment system to supplement the existing assessment system used by New York State. The Static 99 is an actuarial risk assessment system to determine the risk of sex offenders to re-offend. The Static 99 was first developed by Canadian researchers and includes ten items that take into account the offender's prior criminal history, incidence of violence, relationship to the victim, and personal characteristics, variables that have shown to be statistically associated with recidivism. This more precise risk assessment system will allow Probation and cooperating law enforcement agencies to identify and allocate resources to the highest risk sex offenders. CDCSOM will provide training to participants from the five participating counties here in July, on the use of the Static 99 system.

"This proposal by County Executive Breslin regarding the sex offenders under my department's supervision, takes into consideration the variety of issues that surround this particular probation population," said Aikens. "His progressive, balanced approach addresses the supervision and treatment needs of the probationer and enhances my department's role in the protection of our community."

Capital District Coalition for Sex Offender Management
CDCSOM was created in 2000 by the New York State Chapter of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) with funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (Center for Sex Offender Management). Goals of CDCSOM include professional training in all areas of sex offender management; the use of technological advances to monitor more effectively sex offenders in the community, specifically monitoring of their computers; providing job training to increase the number of gainfully employed sex offenders; increase the number of sex offenders who participate in community based treatment; to involve victim service advocates in all stages case review and policy development; to provide feedback to judiciary and legislature; and provide community education regarding community safety issues related to sexual violence.