Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Video Phone in Use at Pitchess : Technology: The computerized device allows inmates at the honor rancho to see and talk with their public defenders and probation officers 40 miles away.

Miguel Ibarra wasn’t 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 drug offender, looking dubiously at the grainy image of a woman taking a seat directly in front of the camera.

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

The computer images weren’t perfect. In addition to being grainy, the frames were being transmitted at fewer than 30 per second, making the probation officer’s movements look choppy. But Ibarra settled into a normal conversation with her after his first few minutes of uncertainty, focusing more on his legal concerns than the novelty of how he was voicing them.

“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 across the country for 10 years, including those in Glendale, said James Boyer, division manager for the county’s Information Technology Service.

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

“We expect people all over the country will want these,” he said.

Authorities estimate that the system, which costs $250,000, will save $500,000 in transportation and related costs at Pitchess next year. Inmates can be interviewed without being bused Downtown, and county legal personnel do not have to spend hours driving to and from the jail.

County officials said it is important for probation officers and other court personnel to see an inmate, rather than merely talk on the phone, because it helps to judge their character and credibility.

“The verbal part is 20% of it,” said Errol Van Horne, operations lieutenant at Pitchess. “The person on the other end wants to see the reactions and expressions of the individual.”

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who was at Pitchess for a demonstration of the system Monday, added that the new system will help cut air pollution by keeping county cars and buses off the freeways.

Van Horne said up to $2 million a year could be saved if plans to use the system are expanded to jails countywide.

The system is built by a private firm, but because the county helped design it, the county treasury will receive 6% of the revenues from sales to other law-enforcement agencies nationwide, which could potentially generate millions of dollars, Boyer said. He said the money would likely be reinvested in more video telephone systems.

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Seven video telephones were placed at the Pitchess facility and two at the Hall of Records in Downtown Los Angeles for a test that started in April. Officials said the system is in constant use between its scheduled hours of 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and they hope it can be expanded to courtrooms and other jails within the next couple of years.

The system is operated from the Hall of Records, where call times are scheduled and a computer dials the phones at the jail. The Downtown work stations resemble a typical computer desk with a camera lens above the monitor.

At Pitchess, the units are more rugged. The equipment is enclosed in a thick metallic case about 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Windows on the side of the booth are made of bulletproof glass, and a metal phone cord is only 18 inches long.

“The phone cord is of a specific length and makeup, so they can’t tear it off and hurt somebody,” Boyer said.

The monitor is at the center of the booth, and the camera above records inmates’ movements through a small opening. At the lower right side of the console is a slot about 9 inches wide through which faxes can be sent and received.

The work stations are on wheels and can be moved to different locations, a significant advantage over custom studios that have to be constructed for traditional equipment, Van Horne said.

But like all high-tech equipment, it works best after a little experience. Sheriff Sherman Block, using the system for the first time Monday as he demonstrated it for reporters, made the mistake of standing in front of the Downtown computer terminal as he took a call from Antonovich at Pitchess.

“You’ve got a great stomach,” Antonovich told the sheriff. “All I can see is your stomach and your coat, which is unbuttoned . . . and your chin.”