North Carolina's Crippled Probation System

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A report on North Carolina's probation system suggests that public safety is at risk because the system has either neglected or lost track of thousands of criminals.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that since the start of 2000, 580 people have killed in North Carolina while under the watch of state probation officers. That accounts for 17 percent of all convictions for intentional killings.

Documents and interviews show that probation officers lose contact with the people they are required to supervise.

The report's findings said probation leaders have failed to take advantage of technology advances, leaving their officers with no automatic tracking of the people under their supervision. Officers often weren't aware when probationers were arrested on new charges.

It's unclear how many of the 580 people were poorly supervised, because correction leaders declined to release records of thousands of probationers who committed serious crimes.

State probation managers disregarded warnings and periodic cries for help from understaffed county offices.

The slayings of two college students earlier this year put the state's probation system under the microscope. Suspects accused of killing Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato received scant attention from probation officers after previous offenses. That led to calls for reform.

An internal audit and a review by the National Institute of Corrections found major problems, including missing files, cases being ignored and supervisors failing to quickly file arrest warrants for absconders. The state has agreed to spend an additional $2.5 million, much of which would go for 26 new jobs.

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