For Release: Immediate  Date: October 15, 2001

Contact: Sara Kempin, APR. Phone: (919) 733-5027 ext. 233

RALEIGH--Public service announcements promoting SAVAN- the Statewide Automated Victim Assistance and Notification system - will run statewide on 89 radio stations beginning today, October 15, through Friday, October 26.

"These announcements will help us reach out to crime victims and inform them about this important, free service that is available statewide," said Bryan E. Beatty, secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control & Public Safety (CC&PS). SAVAN is coordinated by the Governor's Crime Commission, a division within CC&PS.

SAVAN provides crime victims with access to information regarding the status of their offender such as release, parole, transfer or escape, by linking local criminal justice computers to the SAVAN Call Center.

Victims can register for automated notification by calling the toll-free hotline, 1-877-NC-SAVAN. This hotline runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Once a victim registers, SAVAN links the victim's phone number to the offender's case file. When information about an offender is entered into a criminal justice computer at a county jail or a state Department of Corrections facility, the system will automatically begin notifying registered victims over the telephone within 10 minutes. That notification is designed to prevent a potentially dangerous offender from showing up at a victim's home or office unannounced.

Because the system relies on victims to register themselves, victims need access to information about SAVAN and how to register for notification as early as possible after a crime has occurred. That makes these public service announcements especially important because they make victims aware of the program. The PSAs will air on North Carolina News Network stations throughout the state.

For more information on SAVAN, visit the web site at www.ncsavan.org.

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