2880 Flower Rd. Erie, PA. 16509

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Avoiding False Alarms

 

   

ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/911

 
MISSION
The mission of the department of public safety is to provide, maintain, improve and upgrade 911 emergency call taking and dispatch services in Erie County by utilizing the most modern equipment and technology available. It is also the mandate of the department to advocate for all public safety agencies in the County relative to areas of concern, to include, but not limited to categories such as training, equipment, emergency procedures, facilities, and corrections procedures. Finally, it is imperative that the department provide comprehensive emergency management and Hazmat services to ensure the safety of the public, funding of equipment, and coordination of Federal, State, and Municipal disaster prevention and response.
 

AUTHORITY
  • Act 78 of 1990, RL. 340, No. 78 as Amended, known as the Pennsylvania Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act
  • Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission
  • Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency
  • Erie County Government Ordinances
  • Erie County Directives and Procedures
 
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SERVICES
  • Provide public safety call taking and dispatch services without interruption, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Provide public service information to the community and emergency response agencies regarding 911 issues.
  • Provide training and quality assurance services as required by State regulations.
  • Provide preventative maintenance to existing emergency communication sites throughout the county.
  • Facilitate the design, equipment purchase, and implementation of a comprehensive, interoperable, communications system that will service all public safety agencies in Erie County.
 
TRENDS IN USE OF SERVICES
  • Consolidate county-wide communication resources.
  • Expansion of wireless technology.
  • Enhancing staff expertise and competency.
  • Data sharing.
 
GOALS
  • Relocate the 911 Facility.
  • Promote the upgrade of radio frequency technology utilized in the field by the County-wide public safety agencies in an effort to establish standardization of their equipment.
  • Adapt the highest level of information technology to be provided to the users in a computer aided dispatch (cad) system.
  • To become self sustaining with in-house technical maintenance.
  • Provide citizens, the business community, and County staff with convenient access to appropriate information and services through technology.
  • Tracking all organizational indicator activities.
  • Provide vision, leadership, and a framework for emerging technology, and implement proven information systems.
 
     

Public Safety in Erie County Prison, PA

Erie County Prison, PA, is a medium-security level county jail located on 1618 Ash Street, Erie, PA, 16503-2168. The facility houses adults awaiting trials in the justice system or those incarcerated for smaller crimes with sentences below three years. Inmates incarcerated for violent crimes such as murder are only held here temporarily before transferring to other facilities. The facility has about 726 male and female inmates. Its mission is to house inmates in a secure environment and uphold all the stakeholders’ safety.
This correctional facility confines inmates for the general public's safety and offers them programs to better themselves. This aims to turn their lives around from the life of crime and reduce recidivism. Even better, alongside the county authorities, the facility is part and parcel of the set re-entry and transition programs to help inmates back into the society as flawlessly as possible. This allows inmates to blend in and become law-abiding and productive citizens.
Some of the programs offered in this facility to help inmates turn around include:

Educational Programs

Erie County Prison offers inmates educational programs to better their lives after they are released from confinement. These skills not only make the inmates better-placed individuals in society but also gives them an edge in securing employment. Consequently, post-release recidivism is reduced significantly. Some of the educational programs offered in this facility include GED and life skills. Employment preparation is also an essential aspect of these programs. It arms inmates with employment skills such as how to look for jobs and job readiness.
These programs further come in handy to help inmates learn how society works and how they can blend in without turning back to crime. A lot might have changed since an inmate was out in the community; hence it is imperative to incorporate them back before they return to their crime lives.

Work Programs

The facility also offers work programs to arm inmates with skills that they can employ when released. Such programs include vocational education such as institutional maintenance, construction, and HVAC, among others. While these programs help reduce idleness and maintain orderliness in the facility, they also give inmates essential skills. Consequently, when they are released, they have somewhere to begin life in the society. This helps to reduce cases of recidivism.

Counseling Programs

Many crimes in Erie County are motivated by underlying psychological problems, some of which the offenders cannot avoid. Consequently, public safety will always be compromised when such inmates are released back into society. Cases of recidivism involving offenders with psychological issues are always high all across the United States. To counter such, correctional facilities in Erie County, including Erie County Prison, have counseling programs to attend to such inmates. This includes offenders suffering from alcohol and drug abuse. Research across the States established that almost half of the arrested offenders are always on drugs before their arrests. The rolled out programs include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); these are programs that help knock off offenders from the behavioral patterns that lead them to commit crimes. These include therapeutic drills that counter vices such as anger management and criminal thinking that, if not attended to, will always lead an offender back to crime.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment (SUDT); alcohol and drugs are a significant contributor to the life of crime. SUDT comes in handy to help offenders recover from substance use disorders and avoid relapses to blend into society.  

Religion-based Counseling

Erie County Prison, like other correctional facilities, also employs faith-based programs to appeal to inmates to forfeit their crime lives. Through the facility's chaplain and religious volunteer groups, inmates are encouraged to sign up for bible study, peer mentors, worship services, prayers, and meditation sessions. Such uphold the general public's safety when offenders turn over a new leaf. Cases of recidivism reduce significantly.

Community-Based Treatment

The community also participates actively in upholding public safety by working hand in hand with the prison authorities to roll out helpful programs for inmates. These programs help to monitor released offenders and ensure they do not fall back to their old ways. Among the community-based treatment employed by Erie County Prison alongside the community include:

Parole/ Mandatory Supervised Release

Released inmates from Erie County Prison are assigned parole officers to supervise them over an agreed period over which their suitability for blending with the community is assessed. The parole officers further help the offenders overcome the allure of crime, get a job, and generally become good citizens. They can also sign them up for the community-based counseling programs rolled out by non-profit entities and community-based agencies.

Community-Based Counseling Programs

Erie County Prison also encourages their released inmates to sign up for community-based programs that may help them recover fully from their crime lives. The community, through non-profit organizations and state agencies, organize beneficial programs such: family counseling,

  • Sex offender counseling
  • Vocational and employment counseling
  • Domestic violence counseling
  • Alcohol and drug abuse counseling
  • Psychiatric services
  • Life skills

Importance of Correctional Programs to Public Safety

Correctional programs play an important role in not only reshaping the lives of released offenders but also upholding public safety. According to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics back in 2018, about five in six prisoners released from prisons across 30 states in the USA in 2005 were rearrested at least once over a period of nine years after being released. Even worse, about 82% of offenders arrested in Erie County in 2016 had had raffles with the County’s jail system. This stresses the importance of correctional programs not only in Erie County Prison but also in other correctional facilities across the country.
Correctional programs contribute to public safety in the following important ways:

  • Reduces recidivism; well-rehabilitated inmates are less likely to fall back to their life of crime when released from prison.
  • Helps Inmates adjust to society; these programs help inmates fall in line with society's expectations and become productive citizens. They get skills that they can use to earn a livelihood away from crime.
  • They give inmates a purpose; armed with skills and knowledge, inmates develop a sense of purpose. They can set life goals, visions, and pursue them accordingly.
  • They restore the community's faith in released inmates; if the inmates display a sense of responsibility and willingness to change from their way by living up to society's expectations, society accepts them accordingly.  

 

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