Appriss Introduces Mobile Offender-Custody Alerts

Appriss Inc. has introduced a mobile version of its automated victim notification service known as VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) to give crime victims about offender custody updates.

VINE is used by victims of crime nationwide and monitors over 95% of the nation's incarcerated offenders. The new VINEmobile app means people who have been victims of crime can easily check on the status of their offender and register to be notified about changes in that status via phone or email simply by accessing VINE on their smartphone or tablet. The app is available for both iPhone and Android devices, according to Appriss.

Through VINE, crime victims and other concerned persons can check on an offender's custody status and register to be notified about any change in that status 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The service is free and anonymous. In 2012 VINE delivered nearly 30 million notifications to registered victims.

VINE was developed in 1994, a year after the murder of Mary Byron, a Louisville, Ky., woman who was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend, after he had been released from jail without her knowledge.