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dinero que es provisto por los familiares y amigos de quienes están tras las rejas.
El informe no sólo explica cómo se le robaba el dinero a los reclusos – ya sea por errores humanos, de software o con intención deliberada – sino también cómo algunos presos recibían el doble de dinero, esto sucedía cuando en vez de depositarle al preso correcto el sistema acreditaba el dinero a otra persona. Una vez que el preso era liberado se intentaba corregir el balance de pagos, balance que muchas veces era imposible de hacer por falta de información.
El actual sheriff de la ciudad, Vic Regalado insiste que con un nuevo software y mejores prácticas de control administrativo se prevendrán problemas en el futuro. (La Semana) ENGLISH
Missing records and poor accounting and reconciliation practices make it nearly impossible for the full extent of the problem to ever be known, although the report does highlight the admission of one TCSO detention officer that she stole approximately $12,000 from inmate accounts over the course of a year.
“[O]n March 8, 2013, the TCSO Corporal stated she had misappropriat- ed funds from the inmate trust account and estimated she had taken around $1,000 a month for a period of approximately12 months,” the report states. “The Corporal resigned a few days later on March 12, 2013.”
The issue of missing money – and, on occasion, extra money – in inmate commissary accounts was first raised in an internal TCSO investigation in 2012, but even at that time so many records were missing or improperly documented that no resolution could be reached.
“As many as 500 receipt books were missing,” the report stated, “[and] receipts from receipt books provided were often unreadable.”
Commissary money is used by inmates to purchase personal items such as deodorant, shampoo, and toothpaste as well as to buy food. Because many detainees are held in the county jail for a year or more before trial, and then serve short sentences there after conviction, a lot of money can pass through each account, money provided by friends and family of those behind bars.
The report explained not just that money was taken from inmates – either deliberately or due to a plethora of human and software errors – but also that some inmates wound up receiving double payments. This happened when a payment destined for one inmate was mistakenly credited to the account of another. Once an inmate had been released and issued payment for any balance on his account, any hope of correcting the mistake was lost.
Tulsa’s current sheriff, Vic Regalado, insists that new software and better oversight and administrative practices will prevent such widespread problems in the future. (La Semana)