Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Truxton Circle resident Greg Upwall comments on Kojo Nnamdi's guest today -- CSOSA -- in relation to Tricia McCauley's murder

CSOSA was the guest on today's WAMU Kojo Nnamdi radio program.

See the comment from Truxton Circle resident Greg Upwall, who references Tricia McCauley.




Tuesday, Jan 10 2017 12:32 p.m. (ET)

Second Chances And Repeat Offenders: Challenges For The Agency Overseeing Probation And Parole In The District

The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency
D.C.’s criminal justice system has struggled with repeat violent offenders, parole violators lost to the system and young offenders given too many chances under the Youth Act. Some point to the federal agency charged with overseeing parole and probation, the Courts Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA). We speak to the head of CSOSA about the challenges the agency faces.
                                                        
Guests
  • Nancy Ware Director, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency
                                            




We live in the Bloomingdale neighborhood and are friends of Tricia McCauley who was tragically raped and murdered on Christmas night. We have learned that the suspect in her case had been arrested 6 times in 2016 alone and had exhibited a clear pattern of increasingly violent behavior. His parents had been saying that he needed help, but to no avail. We do not disagree that individuals should not be given a second chance rather than prematurely locked up, BUT the problem appears to be that alternatives to incarceration are not being effectively implemented. Why was this criminal "suggested" to return for mental health evaluation and suggested to return to be fitted with a GPS device at a later date rather than actually being delivered to his mental health evaluation and fitted with the GPS device WHILE he was in custody??Individuals with a history such as this man should be held and delivered for mental evaluation and fitted while in custody, not released with the hope that they will return at a future date. This simple procedural lapse resulted in the tragic, brutal, and avoidable loss of a life of a dear friend. We want these procedural holes to be addressed so that this kind of senseless tragedy does not happen again.


2 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Greg's statement of frustration is shared by most of us who are shocked and saddened by the loss of such a wonderful and beloved young woman. However, this is not just a procedural mistake which led to this horrible tragedy!! This is a systemic failure of the District crimanal justice system and a direct result of the intentional misuse of a law that was meant to give young offenders a chance to stay out of the system, Not a law meant to be repeatedly used to release offenders back to streets to continue on a track to a life of criminality and violence. If we, as citizens and residents of the City really care to affect change on behalf of the victims and families of these repeat offenders, we have to start raising our voices and knocking on the doors of the council and the Mayor's office and the Congress to change the way this law is administered in our city. If we accept this as the status quo and go back to life as usual then shame on us! Everyone needs to remind the elected officials of their responsibility to the safety of this city and that we will speak with our votes when the time comes. Please write, call, email your reps as much as possible. "There but for the grace of God go I." Anyone of us or our families could have been in this situation.