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NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) — In an email to Mayor Helena Moreno obtained by WDSU, Jill Dennis of the Assured Supervision Accountability Program says they will begin removing individuals from the ASAP program on Monday.
ASAP will no longer be accepting new enrollments and will officially end its partnership with the city by Aug. 1.
If the ASAP ankle monitoring program is ended, all Orleans Parish individuals currently enrolled in the program would return to the custody of the Orleans Parish Jail.
ASAP claims Orleans Parish Judges are intentionally not using the ankle monitoring service, causing a dip in the program’s numbers.
Dennis writes, “We cannot continue to provide our service to a court whose actions are doing so much damage to our ability to operate a successful business while providing the top-level security we provide.”
In the letter, Dennis claims the nationwide program has been operating in the city of New Orleans at a loss week after week.
Dennis calls for a conversation with the city to explore alternative choices to keep the program running in Orleans Parish.
“Mayor Moreno, our city needs this program. I do not want to leave Orleans. But I don’t know what else to do,” Dennis writes.
A statement from Mayor Moreno’s office states, “The Mayor’s office received the letter from ASAP late Thursday night and needs time to review.”
We reached out to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office for a comment and they issued the following statement:
“The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been lawfully committed to our custody. We do not determine who is booked into the Orleans Justice Center, nor do we decide who is released or the conditions of their release. Those decisions are made by the courts in accordance with the law.
The Sheriff’s Office does not operate or administer an electronic monitoring program, nor do we order individuals to be placed on electronic monitoring. When a court orders an individual to be released on electronic monitoring, our role is limited to processing that order and ensuring the individual is properly fitted with the required monitoring equipment before release.
As with any changes that could affect the local criminal justice system, we are committed to working with our justice system partners to ensure we can continue to safely provide care and supervision for everyone housed in our facility.
Because this matter involves court-ordered release conditions and private electronic monitoring services, any questions regarding the selection or use of specific electronic monitoring providers should be directed to the appropriate judicial or program administrators.”
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