Court CATV Arraignment Delaware County, Pennsylvania

• NCJ Number: 87027
• Author(s): M H Rimerman
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-TA-AX-0036
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This technical assistance report examines possible communications systems that would enable the Delaware County Judicial Community (Pa.) to establish a central after-hour arraignment approach covering the 32nd magisterial district.

Abstract

In addition to the burdens imposed upon the district justices in holding after-hours arraignment, other factors that encourage the development of a central arraignment system are the increasing local government costs involved in transporting arrestees to the point of arraignment (rising police salaries and the cost of auto fuel) and the increasing cost-effective potentials of modern telecommunications technologies. The general consensus of the officials interviewed was that a modern communications system that would permit communication between personnel at a decentralized booking point and the justice at the centralized arraignment point would pay for itself and save local government dollars over the long term. The client should determine the appropriate time to bring together representatives of the cable television companies with systems covering the 32nd magisterial district to consider the project. The outcome of current franchising and litigation activity will determine the timing and the usefulness of such a meeting. Local government costs in such a project should be estimated. Other possible technologies to accomplish the desired interactive communication include standard microwave and ITFS; however, the cost would be substantially higher than for a cable TV system. Perhaps the most viable alternative is the slow-scan video joined with standards audio telephone lines. This would avoid the current problems of cable TV construction and operations which preclude an immediate solution to the problem; however, the disadvantage to such a service is that full video is not available; i.e., a still-frame picture is 'grabbed' every 4 to 8 seonds and transmitted from point to point. The appendixes list the justices of the magisterial district and describe the use of videophones in an Arizona court.