Massachusetts Probation Service and State Police Partnership
Results in Record Number of Fugitive Apprehensions

The Interstate Compact of the Massachusetts Probation Service has returned 126 absconded offenders and teenage runaways to the state in the past nine months, a figure which is almost triple the number of people who were returned to the Commonwealth during all of fiscal year 2005.

This increase reflects a dynamic one-year-old partnership between the Massachusetts Probation Service's Interstate Compact and the Massachusetts State Police's Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section based in Framingham which was formed to find and apprehend the state's most violent criminals, including sex offenders, who have temporarily escaped justice.

“When someone leaves the state illegally, it is not the end of it. If we get information on their whereabouts, we are going to apprehend them,” said Donna Reed, Interstate Compact Coordinator.

Of the 126 captured and returned to Massachusetts in the first nine months of this fiscal year, 78 were adults and 48 were juveniles. Most of the juveniles were not offenders but teenage runaways. Fifteen of the 68 adults apprehended are sex offenders and were picked up for either failing to register as sex offenders or for violating the terms of their probation, according to Reed. Last year in fiscal 2005, seven sex offenders were apprehended and returned to Massachusetts. During fiscal year 2005, July 2004 to June 2005, only 37offenders and runaways were apprehended.

"It is a partnership that definitely works. We work together for the common goal of getting violent probation offenders off the streets, said Detective Lieutenant Kevin Horton of the State Police's Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section. Horton added, "The partnership helps us and we help the Massachusetts Probation Service. It is a great cooperative effort."

The Massachusetts Probation Service and the Massachusetts State Police partnership is a seamless operation in which the State Police either gather information on those who have absconded through warrant checks or are alerted to their whereabouts by the Probation Service's Interstate Compact Unit and or other sources. Once an indictment is made, the Interstate Compact Unit and State Police begin the process of returning the individual back to Massachusetts.

A State Police Officer or officers travel to the city or state where the offender or runaway is located. In some cases, a private agency such as Transcor, an offender transport service, or local law enforcement authorities such as the police apprehend the offender or take the runaway into custody. Rendition is waived and the Interstate Compact Unit makes the arrangements to have the individual transported back to the Bay State.