Officials kept track of all on Pa. house arrest during storm

In addition to all the downed power lines, Sandy … and falling trees …. knocked out plenty of phone lines in our region.

So what does that mean for those on house arrest who are monitored through phone lines?

When the power goes out, the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole’s monitoring efforts step into high gear. Staff members check on those under electronic monitoring, more commonly known as house arrest.

Board spokesman Leo Dunn says a team of people oversees those on electronic monitoring. “Parolees and probationers under the board’s supervision during the storm continued to be monitored, because that is a unit of the board that runs 24 hours a day seven days a week,” he said.

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The monitoring had to be moved because the board headquarters is near the Susquehanna River. But Dunn says those under monitoring who lose power or phone service are obligated to check in.

“They actually call into our 24/7 unit, there’s an 800 line there, so they call in to let us know what the circumstances are,” Dunn said. “Then we have the agent check up on them every so often to make sure things don’t change and find out when power’s back on.”

Dunn says no one tried to escape and officials kept track of all on house arrest during the storm and its aftermath.

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