Video Interview System Links Inmates, Officials Across Miles

Miguel Ibarra was not quite sure what he was looking at. All he saw when he was brought from his cell at Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho to talk to his probation officer for the first time Monday was a booth with a phone handset and a computer screen.

“What is it?” asked the 18-year-old convicted drug offender, looking dubiously at a grainy on-screen image of a woman taking a seat.

A few moments later, Ibarra picked up the handset and began a 20-minute conversation with the probation officer on the Los Angeles County Justice Video Interview System. The computerized system--which county officials said is the first to be used by any law enforcement agency in the nation--allows inmates at Pitchess to converse on screen with public defenders and probation officers 40 miles away in Downtown Los Angeles.

“It’s a trip,” he said afterward. “I always thought of it as something I would see in the future. I guess it’s here now.”

Video telephone systems that use traditional television images have been used for arraignments and other minor hearings in courtrooms nationwide, including those in Glendale, for about 10 years, said James Boyer, division manager for the county’s Information Technology Service.

But he said the Pitchess system--which transmits digitalized data over telephone lines--has the potential for cheaper and more widespread use.

Authorities estimate that the computerized system, which cost $250,000, will save $500,000 in transportation and related costs at Pitchess next year. Inmates will not have to be bused Downtown, and county legal personnel will not have to drive to and from the jail.

County officials said it is important for probation officers and others to see inmates because it helps judge their credibility.