NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans' controversial home incarceration contractor, TSAP, got another contract extension through the month of September on Tuesday so that the Landrieu administration can decide what to do with the program.
This came as a new case raises questions about whether TSAP is working, or whether police have the wrong man.
A 16-year-old girl was raped in the 2600 block of General Ogden Street on July 23. According to police reports, they developed 19-year-old Craig Hayes as a suspect, and the victim identified him out of a lineup.
At the time Hayes had a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and was on TSAP. According to the company's CEO Bill Welch, Hayes was in his house all night. Court records show the rape attempt happened across town in Hollygrove at 4 a.m.
Hayes' case raises a big question: Do police have the wrong man, or did TSAP malfunction?
NOPD spokesman Bob Young said in an e-mail the case is still under investigation and that, "We understand there is a conflict in his location at the time of the incident as indicated by TSAP. We have submitted DNA samples for analysis in this case and hopefully will receive results in the near future."
Patti Lapeyre is a citizen activist who's urged reform of New Orleans' home incarceration system for the past three years.
“The judges might be notified, but the judges don't do anything about it in the right amount of time. So, it's very dangerous for us, for our citizens,” Lapeyre said.
Welch said his agency had notified the court that Hayes had a number of minor curfew violations starting in June, including coming in more than an hour late and failing to charge the battery on the unit.
But the judge didn't take Hayes off TSAP and arrest him until two months later on Aug. 22 when he was listed as a suspect in the rape that happened in July.
“It's another example of how this is a failure, and the citizens of New Orleans and surrounding areas are the ones who are at risk,” Lapeyre said.
Last month the Landrieu administration said they were only extending TSAP’s contract for home incarceration through the end of August, but Tuesday, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Col. Jerry Sneed said in a statement that they are once again extending TSAP’s contract through the end of September.
But after years of extensions by the Nagin administration and a number of cases showing problems with the program, Lapeyre is skeptical.
“I'm confident that at the end of September, they'll extend the contract again,” she said.
Sneed also said in a statement, "Due to the prudent use of these services during the month of August by all the judges, there will be no need to allocate additional resources to pay for these services through the month of September. The city is looking at additional options for the remainder of the year."
