Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jun 2006
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Section: Pg B04
Copyright: 2006 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Henri E. Cauvin

CAPTURING A PROBATION AGENCY'S SUCCESSES

TV Show Explores Supervised Offenders And Those WHO Guide Their 
Return To Society

Tim Russert's job is safe. So is Oprah's.

But John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," might want to look 
over his shoulder, where if he looks really, really hard, he might 
catch a glimpse of "D.C. Public Safety."

- ---sidebar On "D.C. Public Safety," Henrietta Meeks, left, and 
Beverly Pollard prepare to tell Len Sipes how drugs landed them in 
prison and how they intend to stay out. (Photos By Kevin Clark -- The 
Washington Post) ---sidebar

Hosted by a former lawman who is spokesman for the District's 
probation office, the show is the first real foray into television 
for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency.

You can't call in the whereabouts of dangerous fugitives, as you can 
on Walsh's long-running Fox show, but if you have been looking for 
the story behind the criminals, "D.C. Public Safety" might be just 
what you've been waiting for.

It opens with a pulsating panorama of the District and the people of 
the agency in action.

Shown on public-access stations across the region and on the agency's 
Web site, http://www.csosa.gov/content.htm , "D.C. Public Safety" is 
an effort to explore the criminal justice system, especially issues 
important to those living in the community under the agency's supervision.

"It's designed to cast offenders in a different light," said Len 
Sipes, the host of the program, planned to air quarterly. "We hear 
about their failures. . . . Here, we're trying to focus on their successes."

No wonder. The agency isn't in the news much, but when it is, it 
tends to command that attention under less than desirable 
circumstances -- such as when one of the thousands of people the 
agency is supposed to be supervising is accused of a crime. Its 
everyday success stories get little fanfare.

Don't expect to hear horror stories on "D.C. Public Safety." The 
first episode focused on the work of churches and other faith 
organizations in helping people adjust to life back in their 
communities. The second episode, which was recorded just over a week 
ago and will air soon, examines the special problems facing women in 
the criminal justice system.

Sitting on the set, waiting for his guests to arrive for the taping 
of the second episode, Sipes is the first to say that when the 
cameras start rolling, you shouldn't expect Mike Wallace reprising 
his interview with the Ayatollah Khamenei.

"It's a cable TV show. It's not '60 Minutes.' . . . All I am is an 
ex-cop with a couple of college degrees," said Sipes, a former 
Maryland state trooper.

But that doesn't stop some guests from fretting as if they were about 
to face an interrogation. And it's not the two ex-cons who are worried.

"Is there practice?" Tosha Trotter, a supervisory community 
supervision officer, blurts out as things begin picking up on the set.

Not really, says Sipes, who does his best to calm her nerves.

"It's a conversation at a bar on a Friday night, except it's being 
filmed," he says. And except that there's no booze.

In fact, aside from Sipes's closely guarded bottle of water, there's 
nothing in the way of refreshments. And there's no green room for the 
guests to relax in before taping.

Like many television programs looking to keep costs down, "D.C. 
Public Safety" isn't shot where it is set. Production takes place in 
the University of Maryland Baltimore County's New Media Studio, which 
charges $3,000 an episode to put everything together.

Henrietta Meeks and Beverly Pollard, former convicts, are up first, 
talking about how drugs landed them in prison, how they intend to 
stay out and how others can avoid the traps they fell into.

Seated across from them, Sipes asks about the next generation, the 
ones who have yet to tire of the fast life.

"So what do we do with the younger offenders?"

"You really got me on that," Meeks replies. "They've got to unlearn 
and relearn," she belatedly offers.

As time runs out on the first segment, Sipes is too engrossed to see 
cameraman Aaron Weidele trying to signal Sipes to wrap up. Finally, 
someone catches his eye and the interview comes to a close.

"I'm a star!" Meeks shouts while sauntering off the stage.

Trotter and another supervisory officer, Elizabeth Powell, are 
Sipes's next guests, and when Sipes signals that he's ready to roll, 
Trotter lets it be known that she is not.

"He's ready," she says, feigning a touch of testiness. "Is anybody else ready?"

But before she knows it, Trotter is on stage, under the Klieg lights, 
answering Sipes's questions with aplomb.

It wasn't all that bad, she says afterward. It was just talking about her job.

"It's what we do for a living, and it's what we love to do," she 
says. "So once we started talking, it came naturally."

Sipes can only hope his next show -- on sex offenders -- goes as smoothly.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman