Leslie Hearn has been appointed chief information officer for Maryland. Hearn previously served as director of information resources for the Maritime Administration in the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. The names of inmates set for release from New York state prisons are now being posted on the Internet by a crime victim's advocacy group called Take Back New York. The data, which Take Back New York receives from the state Dept. of Correctional Services, has always been public. However, this is the first time it's been made available on the Internet.
New Jersey is the only other state that posts such information on the Internet.
The site also lists names and phone numbers of people that citizens can contact to comment on an inmate who is eligible for parole. Computerized polygraphs are being added to the Pennsylvania State Police's arsenal of high-tech crime fighting equipment. After a week of successful testing in November, the state announced it will purchase 16 of the lie detector systems, comprised of a Lafayette Instrument Co. LX3000 computerized polygraph, a laptop computer and a printer. The new equipment will also be used for polygraph tests administered to applicants for State Police cadet positions. Evanko said the new polygraphs simplify the mechanics of the test and use a software program that provides a computerized analysis of the test.