DID YOU KNOW That Soon Prisoners Will Only Be Able to Communicate With Family and Visitors Via Video?

On February 10th, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved approximately $5 million in safety renovations and upgrades at the Maguire Correctional Facility – changes that include an eventual move toward all-video visitation of inmates and alignment with the systems to be used at the soon-to-open new Maple Street Correctional facility. (https://cmo.smcgov.org/blog/2015-02-10/county-supervisors-approve-5-million-jail-safety-renovations-and-upgrades)

The United States has the biggest prison population in the world. It grew from 319,598 people in 1980 to 1.57 million in 2013, or over 490 percent in 33 years. Although this was during a time when crime rates were falling. Some of the incentives however are changing as we are now rapidly expanding private prison systems. In this private for profit market more prisoners mean more money. (http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/2/us-selling-prisoners-to-the-highest-bidders.html)

The reality is that Americans aren’t any more likely to become victims of crime than people in other countries. But the United States seems to have some of the longest sentences for property crimes and drug crimes. One study found that sentences in the United States for burglary are about three times longer than sentences in England for the same crime. “The disparity is even bigger for drug cases. A first-time offender convicted of possessing a kilogram of heroin could get 4 months of prison in England. In America, the federal mandatory minimum sentence is 10 years.” (http://www.vox.com/cards/everything-prisons-reform-incarceration-criminal-justice/why-does-the-us-imprison-more-people-than-other-countries#E5433207)

The growth in prisoners has been a boon for private prison operators. Even in states that do not privatize prisons many end up contracting with private vendors for specific services, such as food, health care, telephones and financial services. A 2014 report from In the Public Interest details problems with such contracts. In Florida, for example, privatization of prison health services led to increased inmate deaths as well as delays and outright refusal of treatment. Michigan prisons’ food contract with Aramark resulted in similar abuses. “The contract has been plagued by one scandal after another — scandals that involve every sort of misconduct you could imagine,” the report said.

But some of the most profitable changes rolling out nationwide are the video visitation technologies that include pay-per-view video chats that connect inmates with friends and family. Think of it as very expensive Skype for inmates. This technology already planned for implementation at the about to be completed Maple Street Correctional facility and just voted in for implementation at the old Macquire jail is gaining traction in jail systems across the U.S. in a push by the for-profit prison industry to benefit from and monetize inmate contact.

According to a study by the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), at the end of 2014, 388 U.S. jails — about 1 in 8 — offered pay-per-view video visits, and the service was also available in 123 prisons, Since the report was published in January of 2014, the PPI has become aware of at least 25 additional jails that have implemented the technology. Once video visitation systems are in place, most jails eliminate in-person family visits. Seven companies currently dominate the market, and for 20 minutes, they charge from $5 in Maricopa County, Arizona, to $29.95 in Racine County, Wisconsin.

On the one hand supporters such as Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio argue that the video-only visitation system has eliminated the ability of visitors and inmates to pass contraband like drugs, cell phones and knives. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Phoenix has the largest system in the country, installed by Texas-based Securus Technologies, the market leader, serving more than 2,600 public safety, law enforcement and corrections agencies and over 1 million inmates. The firm installed the system at no cost to the county in return for a hefty cut of the fees, in a contract that probably to avoid too much opposition allows attorneys and clergy to continue to visit in person.

On the other hand in in video visitations as Mr. Jorge Renaud, a policy analyst with the nonprofit Texas Criminal Justice Coalition notes “what’s going on there is a further distance. You’re creating frustration and anomie for the people who are incarcerated, and then we’re returning them to the community. And I think we’re doing a disservice not only to the people who are incarcerated but to the community to which they’ll be returned,” he said. “Nothing good comes from that humiliation.”

Renaud’s observation is supported by a study by the Minnesota Department of Corrections four years ago that found that family visits can reduce the likelihood of an inmate reoffending by 13 percent. Nevertheless according to PPI research, after installing video visiting technology, 74 percent of jail facilities ended in-person visitation. (http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/24/video-chats-replace-in-person-visits-in-us-jails.html)

What do you think? Should San Mateo County be rolling out these exclusive video visitation technologies? Or should inmates be allowed to choose and if they so desire continue in person visits?

Photo credit: Maguire Correctional Facility https://cmo.smcgov.org/blog/2015-02-10/county-supervisors-approve-5-million-jail-safety-renovations-and-upgrades

Interested in more information on this subject click on the links throughout and check these additional resources:
BBC clip - http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25358965
Mother Jones article: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/jail-prison-video-visitation