Parole Patrol
May 20, 1998: Keeping the neighborhood watchdog in check

BY STEPHANIE SAULMON

ParoleWatch is part of the anti-crime advocacy group Take Back New York. Utilizing the Web's power to reach a wide audience, the site aims to enact social change by mobilizing citizens to place pressure on the Parole Board—through phone calls, letters, e-mail—to keep New York felons behind bars.

With an online database of New York criminals up for parole and often touching pleas from activists (victims or family members of victims of violent crimes), the site offers sometimes wrenchingly convincing arguments for tougher parole standards.