SAN ANTONIO – Surveillance inside the Bexar County Adult Detention Center is set to become more sophisticated, thanks to a multimillion-dollar federal grant.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was awarded a $2.7 million grant to buy more sophisticated equipment for its “Law Enforcement and Detention Intelligence Network” effort, also known as LEAD-IN.
Sheriff Javier Salazar said the initiative is intended to make his office faster at transcribing and analyzing inmate phone calls, which he believes can help solve more crimes.
“Inmates are sitting on a wealth of knowledge, a wealth of information,” Salazar said. “Not just for whatever crimes got them here or whatever they’re accused of, but literally crimes that go on outside these four walls.”
Salazar said the new technology, which may include artificial intelligence models, will allow deputies to comb through more inmate communications at a faster pace.
“I can just type in the word escape,” Salazar said, “and it’ll give me all the phone calls where anybody has discussed the word, escape, for whatever reason.”
While the technology will speed up deputies’ work, Salazar said it is not replacing detectives, who will still be evaluating context of conversations.
“We (still) have to decipher through that information,” Salazar said.
BCSO said it hopes LEAD-IN will help solve more crimes, and even prevent them before they start.
Salazar cited the success of using inmate surveillance to stop a “murder-for-hire” plot last February, as an example of how this technology could be useful.
Adrian Daniel Farias, 36, was allegedly attempting to enlist the help of other inmates at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center to find someone to kill a witness in his aggravated robbery case, Salazar said.
Farias enlisted the help of inmate Raymond Garza, 42, who then contacted David Gomez Torres, 44, Salazar said.
At the same time, Veronica Marie Herrera, 29, was allegedly helping to facilitate the murder-for-hire plot. Herrera is one of Farias’ multiple girlfriends, according to Salazar.
Herrera and Gomez were not inmates at the time, Salazar said.
“Through our intelligence gathering capabilities, we were able to detect that was occurring,” Salazar said. “We were able to make contact with the supposed target of this plot and let them know what was going on, and then of course hold people accountable, not only the people that were inside the facility, but folks that were on the outside.”
While the grant has been secured, Salazar said it could take 12 to 36 months for his office to receive the money. He said BCSO continues to lay the groundwork for the new surveillance plan while waiting on the funding.
“Our intelligence gathering capabilities had already been in motion somewhat,” Salazar said, “so (we are) just continuing that until such time as we’re able to get more equipment, more training for our deputies to ramp up what we’ve already been doing.”
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